The King's Companion
by AuroraRose16
Summary: (Formerly "Loki Seeks a Mate.") Loki intimidates a crowd in Stuttgart intent on showcasing his power, but he ends up choosing a woman to help ensure his legacy. AU: I completely mess with the events in The Avengers, but I also assume the reader has watched the movie. This is my first fanfic; I hope you like it! Thanks! (Dark-ish Loki/OC)
1. Chapter 1: Loki seeks a mate

**This began as a One-Shot inspired by the German scene in the movie. I've decided to expand it to a full story. This is my first fanfic, so please keep that in mind. Also, this is just for fun. Thanks! Loki/OC  
**

**Warnings: The fic is Rated M for language, sex, violence, and possible Triggering-events. (Not in this chapter, though).**

**I wish to reiterate that this is my first fanfic and that it's just for fun. There are some areas where I will trust readers to suspend disbelief and just go with it. I think I have an okay story going on, and I hope readers will enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the character of Loki or any other character that was in The Avengers. They are the property of Marvel, probably, but definitely not mine.  
**

**Chapter 1: Loki seeks a mate  
**

Loki, the God of Mischief and Lies, looked down at the crowd of humans who were cowering and kneeling before him. Excellent. This is as it should be. Didn't they understand that? Well, they would soon enough.

He continued to keep his astral-projected counterparts surrounding his new subjects outside the opulent castle from which he had recently frightened them from. Loki looked up at the Midgardian moon and smiled his wicked smile. At last. He was going to get what he fought so hard for… He released a sinister laugh.

The crowd kept still with their heads down afraid that any slight movement would anger this gold-horned devil-like creature hovering over them. Nevertheless, most of them could not help the shiver down their body at hearing the creature's laugh. Sniffles were heard amongst the crowd from those too frightened to control their tears. Many eyes flew up to the devil as he slowly moved into the mass. Those in his way were quick to shift aside to let him pass. Suddenly, he stopped and pointed his strange, multi-edged scepter to a young woman who was clearly a guest at the prestigious event in the castle.

"You," he said to her. "Rise." The young woman dressed in a black, chic dress slowly looked up at him to confirm he was addressing her. When she saw the sharp edge of his scepter near her auburn head, she slowly rose. Not knowing if she should look him in the eye, she kept her head down. "Have you any children?" he asked. She quickly glanced up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Yes," she said with more panic than she expected. She was afraid she would never see her children again, or worse, that he would hurt them. Could she appeal to some sense of humanity in him? "Two. And they need me."

"That is not my concern!" he snapped, and the crowd winced fearfully. The auburn mother lowered her head once more and stifled a cry in her throat. "Are they healthy and strong?" he asked her.

What kind of question was that? Her automatic response was, "Yes," but there was uncertainty in her voice and the evil god knew it. She sensed his piercing gaze, and she added, "My youngest has Down's Syndrome," she glanced up and knew she had to explain further, "He is mentally slow." Her son was perfect in her opinion, but she knew others would not agree.

Loki scanned the crowd as he dismissed the young mother. She gave an audible sigh and knelt back down. The god came upon another young woman. This one had dark skin and wore a posh, red dress. "Rise," he commanded, and she complied. "Have you any children?" The young woman tensed as she told him she didn't. "And your family? Are they healthy and strong?"

_Oh god._ The young woman and many of the people in the crowd were starting to understand the reasoning behind his questions. Genetics. Knowing the information he wanted she quickly said, "Heart disease runs in my family. And diabetes. And…"

"That is enough; you may resume kneeling." Again, Loki's eyes surveyed the women in the crowd, and he stood before a young woman dressed in black and white. Though her clothes were neat and polished, she could not have been a guest at the party. Perhaps she was a servant? Her brown hair was pulled neatly back low behind her head. "Rise." She did as she was told. "Have you any children?"

The young woman kept her head down and shook her head. "No." She hesitated when he asked her about her family. As far as she knew, the little family she had left was relatively healthy, but she didn't want to tell him that. She didn't want to be a candidate for what she feared he had in mind. "My parents died young."

He knew she was purposefully being vague, and so he took a step closer to her and sternly asked, "How?"

The young brunette stiffened under his intense gaze and swallowed hard before replying, "Heart attack." She held her breath, hoping this information would disqualify her.

"Heart attack." He repeated skeptically. "Both of them?"

The young woman nodded. "It runs in both their families." She glanced up at his piercing green eyes to gauge his reaction, but quickly lowered them again knowing she could not hold his gaze. Did he believe her? He had to! She pathetically added, "It's _genetic_." She hoped he would now reject her and move on. There was a sudden motion, and she realized the sharp edge of his scepter was directly below her chin. Gasping, she straightened her back to avoid the blade and ended up looking directly in the eyes of the imposing and oddly, beautiful, creature.

Though he towered over her, he lowered his head so that his eyes were inches away from hers when he commanded in a dark, low voice, "Do. Not. Lie. To. Me." He pressed the blade a bit more to her chin, and the crowd gasped audibly, afraid of what he was going to do. The young woman opened her mouth to say something, but she was too frightened to speak. Loki lowered the scepter so the sharp edge was pointing directly at her heart. "I can make you tell me the truth," he threatened.

Afraid of having the tip of the blade pierce her heart she confessed, "Car crash." Tears ran down her face, "They died in a car crash when I was little. My grandmother raised me. I only have distant relatives, but I've never met them." She sobbed, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!"

The mischievous smile appeared on the god's face as he lowered the scepter and looked at his subjects. He hadn't thought it possible, but they were more afraid of him than before. He laughed wickedly. Didn't they know there was no use in tricks and lies? That was _his_ specialty. He looked down at the young woman who tried to deceive him. She was weeping into her hands. Oh, how easily these humans are broken. He was mildly impressed by her audacity to lie to him, but he quickly dismissed it. She wouldn't be foolish enough to try to deceive him again.

"Choose me," a soft, confident voice in the crowd called out suddenly. All heads turned to the direction of the speaker, who slowly stood up. She was beautiful. She had long, blonde hair that curled past her shoulders, and she wore an elegant white dress for the party.

Loki looked at the young, blonde woman, fascinated by her courage. He smiled. He would humor this beauty, for now. As he took a step toward her, he saw the brown-haired servant beside him move to kneel back down. "I have not dismissed you!" he snapped his head back to her, and the crowd gasped, whimpered, and cried in fear. The brunette quickly stood back up with her head down, hugging herself. She was too afraid to speak to apologize, but Loki was already giving his attention to the young blonde who had to quickly compose herself after his outburst. "Continue," he said.

The blonde took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "I come from a _strong, healthy_ family of athletes, scholars, and," she grinned, "well, beautiful women and handsome men." She continued when she saw Loki smile. "I don't have any family history of any genetic diseases or conditions. I, myself, was prom queen in high school, a track star at university, and I just graduated from law school from a prestigious university." Loki was now standing in front of her. She lowered her voice so only he could hear, "I can make you very, very happy." She smiled.

This incredible beauty intrigued him, and she was everything he looked for in a possible mate. "And why are you so eager to volunteer?" He asked.

The young woman lifted an eyebrow. "I'm no fool," she said. "I know you're going to take over our world, and I'd rather be by your side than risk being crushed like everybody else. And also," she took a step closer so that she could whisper in his ear, "I find power _deliciously_ appealing."

Loki looked at the young woman in awe. Oh, what fun they could have together. Their children would be perfect: intelligent, beautiful, and strong. And he could have a mate that would be easy to control, and would be all-too-eager to please him. He smiled. What more could he want?

He turned to look at the brunette. She was still where he left her: holding herself, trying desperately not to cry. Her head was still down like everybody else's but he knew they were all listening to his conversation with the blonde woman. No doubt this brunette thought she was safe now that the blonde was ready and willing to be his mate. He, himself, wasn't sure. He knew he should just take the blonde woman and have his way with her, but this brown-haired one…

Something about her made him not want to leave her behind. Was it her face? Her beauty was simple and subtle. It was nothing compared to that of the blonde. He could take them both, but he didn't want to deal with petty jealousies from them or the children they would bear, as he had witnessed from the families of other men who had taken multiple mates.

The blonde woman's melodic voice came from behind him, "I would _never_ lie to you." The god turned to look at her. She was smiling her seductive smile.

He wasn't smiling anymore. He had made his decision. "You may kneel now," he told the blonde. He watched as the disappointed and confused beauty knelt back down. Clearly, she was not accustomed to rejection. Pitiful human.

The god began to walk toward the castle he had frightened his new subjects from only minutes ago, pausing briefly by the brunette. "Come," he commanded in her ear and kept walking. A couple of steps later he heard her refusal.

"No," she said fearfully, but clearly. She couldn't go with him. What would he do to her? Make her bear his children so he could raise them to be just as evil as him? What about the beautiful blonde woman? She _wanted_ to do all that. Why couldn't he just take her?

The angry god slowly turned around to stare incredulously at the woman who would dare defy him. Was she mad? Did she wish to die? "No?" he repeated.

The young brunette instinctively covered her heart with her hands as if they would protect her if this evil god chose to kill her. "Please," she begged as new tears fell from her eyes, "I can't…Please…" She looked toward the blonde to indicate wordlessly that she would be the better woman for what he wanted. The blonde woman was looking back at her shocked and horrified that someone would disobey the powerful god. The entire crowd was looking at her in disbelief.

Loki now stood in front of the brunette, his tall stature dramatically emphasizing how small she was. This was unacceptable. This human was not going to refuse him, certainly not in front of the other lower beings. He would give her one last chance, or he would demonstrate his power for all to see. "Come with me now," he raised his scepter, "or I will make you."

The brunette was terrified. He was probably going to kill her, but she would rather he do it now instead of later after she bore him his evil offspring. "Please," she sobbed as she shook her head, "I can't…"

He underestimated this woman. How…interesting. Well, she would heed him once she saw what he could do. They would all understand his power of persuasion. To everyone's surprise, he turned to the man kneeling next to the brunette. "You," he addressed the man then pointed to the woman on his other side. "Is this your woman?"

The frightened man looked up at Loki and nodded. "She is my wife." The burly, middle-aged man and his wife were guests at the party, and they were clearly in love. They had been holding hands during the entire ordeal.

Loki smiled, satisfied with the man's response. "How lovely," he said as he lowered the tip of his scepter to the man's heart. The crystal on the scepter glowed sky blue and everyone gasped, not knowing what was happening. The man slumped over briefly before he stood up facing Loki. The man's eyes were the same shade blue as the scepter's crystal. Unnaturally blue. Something was wrong. "Now," he said to the man. "Kill your wife."

The crowd panicked at the words. Surely this man wasn't going to kill his wife because he was told to…no matter how terrifying this god was. But they were wrong. The man turned to his wife, bent over and started to strangle her with his hands. The entire crowd was shocked and afraid. The frightened wife was suffocating under her husband's grasp, though she tried to pry his hands off her neck. He was too strong. He was killing her. Her husband was killing her.

"Stop!" cried the young brunette. She found herself trying to pull one of the man's arms away from his wife. "Stop it!" she screamed loudly and with more courage than she felt.

The arm the brunette was pulling was beginning to budge, and so the man let go, still holding his wife with his other hand. He pulled his free arm back, ready to strike the brunette away when Loki pointed his scepter to his head and told him, "No." The man looked at Loki, acknowledging his order, and turned back to his wife using both hands to strangle her.

Quickly recovering from almost being tossed across the plaza from a man twice her size, the young woman lunged at him again trying to help his poor wife. While pulling at the man's arm, she looked at Loki with pleading eyes, "Stop him, please!" But the mischievous god made no move to do so. "Please," she begged, "I'll go with you! Please!" She cried anew as she realized what she was saying: she was agreeing to go with him. "Please stop him! I'll go with you! I'll go with you!"

With a satisfied smile, the god commanded the man to release his wife. The young brunette almost fell back at the lack of resistance when the man let go of his wife and stood at attention in front of Loki. The crowed sighed in relief and fear. This god could make a man kill his wife. What could he make the rest of them do? The god pointed his scepter at the man's heart, and the scepter and the man's eyes glowed again. The man shook his head confused, and he saw his wife on the ground coughing and gasping for air. He knelt beside her to see if he could help, but she quickly backed away from him in fear. It took a moment for the man to realize what had just happened, and he kept his distance from his wife, burying his face in his hands and weeping.

Loki held out his hand to the young brunette and said, "Come." Though he wasn't smiling, there was a mischievous glint in his eye. He knew he had won. He knew that the woman had no choice but to come with him. None of these humans had a choice about anything anymore. Oh, these foolish creatures. Now they were beginning to understand. The young woman hesitantly accepted his hand, and he led her toward the castle. After they walked through the doors, the people in the crowd looked at each other and finally noticed that Loki's astral-projected counterparts had disappeared. They didn't know when the projections had gone because they were focused on the real god: the lethal one. The crowd quickly dispersed, knowing that they were safe…for now.

**Author's note: Yeah, so maybe the concept of Loki trying to find a genetically superior mate was kind of unnecessary. Who's to say that genetic diseases would transfer to a demigod? Let's not over-analyze it. Feedback is always welcome, even if you just leave a smiley face or a frowny face. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2: The King's Companion

**Chapter 2: The King's Companion**

The young brunette looked around the hall where the guests had been entertained by a string quartet, the instruments of which were abandoned on the stone floor, crushed by the stampeding crowd in their haste to escape the creature who assaulted their host. The host, himself, as well as the beaten guards, were nowhere to be found. All that was left of them were specks of blood on the stairs and on the grand statue of the calf in the middle of the room. She could see the tray of hors d'oeuvres she dropped when she saw the madman jab an instrument over the host's eye. There were other trays and broken wine glasses scattered on the floor in a sea of silver metal and red liquid. How was it that not fifteen minutes ago, this very room was filled with the laughs and jovial conversations of schmoosing politicians, famous performers, and other generous philanthropists ready to make a public donation to the cause of the evening? The young woman turned to the architect of the evening's chaos.

He looked at her curiously, taking in everything about the human similarly as a child would look at a new toy or pet. She was a small thing: she barely reached his shoulder in height, she was slim but curvaceous, her lips were thin, and her eyes were brown and expressive. Right now her eyes conveyed fear and confusion.

"W-who are you?" she asked, careful to keep her distance from the imposing figure.

He gave her a knowing smile and softly, but proudly, declared, "I am Loki. A god and prince of Asgard."

The young woman blinked nonplussed. This was not the answer she was expecting. Nothing about that statement made any sense to her. His name and the place he claimed to be from were completely foreign to her. "What?" was all she managed to breathe out.

He laughed at the poor, simple human. She had only known of her small little realm, and her eyes were going to be open to so much that existed beyond it…in time. "All you need know is that I mean to rule your world as its king, and you have been fortunate enough to be chosen to bear my heir."

Those were the words she was afraid to hear. Those impossible, _insane_ words. This wasn't happening; this _couldn't_ happen. She clutched her head, willing for her mind to wake her from this obvious hallucination. "No," she whimpered, shaking her head. "No," she told herself, closing her eyes.

Loki looked at the troubled human, entertained by her doubt in the events she witnessed and the words she heard. Her eyes skewed shut as though she believed if she could not see him, then perhaps nothing that occurred that night might not be real. He smiled at the childish attempt. He heard the footsteps of one of his soldiers descend the stairs to join the pair below. The young woman was taken from her disbelieving thoughts as she, too, noticed the approaching figure.

The young man was a few years older than she was, but his stance and demeanor spoke of years of experience in mental and physical training. Judging by the dark clothes, vest, and weapons he carried, she guessed he was some sort of highly trained, special forces soldier…or a hired gun.

"Sir," he nodded curtly at Loki, "I thought you'd be gone by now. Is something wrong?" His posture was impeccable as he waited for his employer to respond.

"No, Agent Barton," said the self-proclaimed god, "Just a slight change in plans." He nodded toward the young brunette. Agent Barton looked at the frightened woman who noticed that his eyes contained the same blue shade as the man she tried to stop from killing his wife. "Did the doctor acquire what he needed?"

"Yes, sir," responded Barton. "He's on the way to the next location. We've finished…cleaning up here. There is just one team left on the grounds."

The young woman wondered what he meant by "cleaning up" since the hall was still a mess. And a team? How many more were out there? She cursed herself for dropping out of the self-defense class after only two weeks in community college. She laughed at herself. It would probably take more than a semester of study to take on an entire _team_ of specially trained soldiers.

"Has something amused you, my dear?" Loki studied her slight change in demeanor.

She hadn't realized she scoffed aloud during her musings, and she crossed her arms protectively. She responded with the only other thought that came into her mind. "I'm thinking I shouldn't have helped that man's wife out there," she said sadly with a hint of bitterness. It's true. If she hadn't agreed to go with Loki in exchange for having him calling off the attack on the wife, she wouldn't be there at that moment.

Loki's face lit up in surprise. "Really?" he smiled as he took a step closer to her. "Come now. If you had not _gallantly_ sacrificed yourself for that poor woman she would be dead." He was enjoying himself as he mocked her. "You saved a life!" Through her fear, he could see she was angry. "Make no mistake," his voice dropped and his smile disappeared as he took another step closer to her, sending chills down her spine. "You would still be here if you hadn't intervened. I would have had that man kill his wife, and I would have dragged you away kicking and screaming if you hadn't. This way, at least you look like some noble savior."

The entire situation was completely surreal to the young woman. She had to get out of the predicament that was threatening her sanity. Now. "Please," she looked on him with pleading eyes. "Please let me go. It's not too late." She tried to sound hopeful. "You can still do the right thing. Please, just let me go."

Loki raised an eyebrow at the young woman. What was she trying to do? Appeal to some sense of morality in him? Morality was relative, and he was a god. She still didn't understand that. He released a tiny laugh as he looked at Barton, wondering if this was a normal thing for a prisoner to do.

"It seems she's been watching too many crime dramas, sir." Barton's lips twitched to a half-smile. Even under the scepter's influence, he could still spot a desperate plea copied from a line of television dialogue.

The young woman closed her eyes and sighed. Perhaps evoking a commonly used tactic from television was not the best strategy, but she had nothing else. She would not give up. "It's okay," she opened her eyes, "You haven't done anything yet."

Without missing a beat, Barton informed her, "We've killed and maimed dozens of people in the last two days."

Her face paled, horrified by the revelation. They _killed_ people? She knew she shouldn't have been surprised. How else did someone take over an entire planet? But she could hardly believe anyone _could_ take over an entire planet. Everything the gold-horned devil revealed had been absolutely ludicrous. Yet hearing Barton actually say the words…say they had killed people…that was the first thing her mind allowed herself to believe: that the two men standing before her were capable of destroying lives.

Loki looked at the distressed woman whom he understood was coming to terms with the company she was keeping and addressed Barton, "Find out everything you can about my young…companion here. I wish to know everything about her."

"Yes, sir," replied Barton and he wasted no time in beginning his task as he approached the woman, who instinctively took a step back from the self-proclaimed murderer. "Empty your pockets," he ordered. She looked up at the man looming over her and quickly reached into the small pockets of her black skirt. She retrieved her driver's license, credit card, and her apartment key, which Barton then took from her. He pocketed the key, crushed the credit card in half and tossed it aside, and looked intently at her driver's license. He began to read the information on the card aloud, "Carolina Leon…"

"Caro-_lee_-nah," she corrected automatically. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand. It was a habit of hers to correct people who mispronounced her name. The name pronounced Caro-lye-nah was beautiful, but it wasn't the name her parents gave her. Shocked at what she did, she looked to Loki to see if he was upset, but he looked amused.

"She's from northern California." Barton looked at Loki, who gave him a questioning look. "She's from my country, sir."

"Ah," Loki turned to the young woman, "Well, it should please you to know that we will be returning to your homeland, Caro-_lee_-nah," he stressed the correct pronunciation and smirked at her.

The young woman suddenly began to feel irritated by her hopeless situation. She was being mocked by her captor. Not something she tolerated from anybody because it made her feel so small, but she could do nothing about it. She saw what he was capable of, and his foot soldier confirmed his monstrous deeds as well.

However, she knew they were going to take her somewhere else soon. More police would be sent, and they couldn't stay in the castle. If she was going to try to convince the god to let her go, maybe she needed to offer a replacement. "If you let me go," she said wringing her fingers, "I'll tell you where you can find the blonde woman from outside." She saw the god adjust his grip on his scepter, but she didn't know how to interpret the movement. "Her father is a United States Senator, and her mother is a world-class neurosurgeon. She's being groomed to replace her father in the senate, but she's expressed she'd be more than happy to provide you with your own… progeny." Carolina noticed how Loki's eyes began to narrow. Was he upset? Why? Everything she said was true. "She's beautiful; you must have noticed…"

"ENOUGH!" yelled the god as he slammed the base of his scepter on the ground, causing the lights in the castle hall to flicker and the crystal on the scepter to elicit its blue glow. Barton stood tall and straight at attention, and Carolina jumped back in shock. Loki quickly made his way to her even as she walked backwards frightfully and into a wall. He leaned into her with one hand on the wall beside her and the other holding the scepter next to her head. She was trapped. "I am not accustomed to having my decisions questioned," he said through gritted teeth. He looked into the young woman's frightened eyes that were filled with looming tears. "It is not something I will tolerate from anyone. Especially not from a lowly servant girl such as yourself."

Carolina was biting her lip to keep from letting herself cry. She swallowed. "Isn't there anything I can say or do to change your mind?" her quivering voice asked. She held her breath.

Loki bent his elbow to lean closer to her. He made sure she could not avoid his cold, angry gaze as he said in a low, deadly voice, "No." He paused, then added, "The only way you will be released is by your death. If I tire of you or if I do not find…pleasure…with you, then I will kill you, display your corpse as a warning to all the other mortals of your realm not to cross me or displease me, and _then_ I will find someone else. Do you understand?"

Carolina's entire body shook, but she nodded then blinked, releasing tears down her cheeks. "Yes," she choked out releasing the breath she held. His deadly gaze held her captive until the sound of an approaching helicopter outside the castle claimed their attention. She hoped it was the police.

"That'll be them, sir," announced Barton, looking toward the sound of the helicopter.

Without taking his eyes off Carolina, Loki leaned away from her and straightened, adjusting his armor so as to look presentable for what was to come. He slowly began walking backwards as he addressed Barton, "Be sure not to leave until I have been taken away." He did not miss the confused look on the young woman's face. He hoped she did not delude herself into thinking she had a better chance of fleeing without him around. That would have been unwise.

He was pleased to know he was not the only one anticipating her thoughts as he saw Barton walk over to Carolina and firmly grip her upper arm. Loki did not particularly like the idea of another man touching this woman, but he understood it was necessary to prevent her escape, and he trusted the scepter-controlled Barton as the god saw him as his castrated second-in-command.

"Yes, sir," Barton nodded.

Loki dreaded leaving Carolina's presence. He had plans for her and he couldn't wait to get started, but he would have to be patient and deny himself. In less than twenty-four hours, his patience would be rewarded. With that pleasing thought, he turned and left the castle and into the square his enemies would very likely be searching for him.

Carolina watched as the god, who tormented the evening's guests and essentially kidnapped her, left her alone with his human minion. Human. Yes, she realized, Barton was human. She noticed he had guns and other assorted weapons on his vest and holster. She turned to face Barton who was watching her closely. "You're human, aren't you?" she asked him, her voice much clearer than before, as she was no longer crying. She looked up into his strangely sky-blue eyes. She cautiously took a step closer to him to get a better look at his face, and Barton instinctively tightened his grip on her arm. She didn't seem to notice because she continued. "You carry weapons…from here. He had to control you. You're not… like him. You're like me. You're human." He didn't answer, but she didn't need him to. She could only hope he was watching her curious and wonder-filled eyes as she brought her knee up to viciously strike his groin.

Barton immediately let go of her arm to cover the assaulted body part, and Carolina ran the opposite direction of the door Loki exited. She ran down the hall and through the kitchens, tossing carts and tables and chairs in her wake hoping to impede Barton's gain on her. She actually didn't know how close he was because she told herself not to look behind her…to just keep going forward…and she did.

She reached the outside door where the staff used to enter the castle. She ignored the cold chill through her body as she ran toward the deafening sound of the helicopter. She stopped as she noticed that police officers were not the ones taking Loki away into an awaiting black, military-looking helicopter. There was some…person...wearing a red and yellow metallic suit. She recognized the figure briefly from the news years ago… The other person was a fit and muscular man who was dressed from head-to-toe in a fitted blue uniform of some sort with red and white stars and stripes. For a fleeting moment she wondered if these men were American when she heard the faint sirens of police cars through the loud sound of the now-fleeing helicopter. Down a street she saw police cars zigzag their way through the overturned cars and wreckage from earlier.

She meant to start running toward the now empty square when she felt a hand cover her mouth from behind her, and a strong arm tightly pin her arms and body back against a firm chest. She tried to struggle free when she heard Barton's emotionless voice say against her ear, "Don't make this worse than it already is." The statement froze her in fear. Her mind immediately thought of Loki, and she looked up at the black helicopter carrying the crazed god away in the night sky.

This hesitation was enough to allow more men and women dressed similarly to Barton, complete with hypnotized eyes, to circle them. "It was a nice shot, but it's over," said Barton as he removed his hand from her mouth and loosened his grip on her body, once more holding onto her upper arm. "Let's go." He led her back into the direction she came from, surrounded by at least six of Loki's soldiers, but they didn't stop at the staff entrance. Barton's strides were so much longer than hers, and she almost tripped over her own feet as she tried to keep up. She could hear the arrival of the police cars at the square outside the castle and lots of yelling in German. She looked back at hearing commotion inside the castle she was in moments ago with the criminal they were searching for. She couldn't just let these evil soldiers take her away; the police were right inside!

She firmly planted her feet on the ground, trying to put all her weight on where she stood and started screaming for help. Barton picked her up, not bothering to cover her mouth, and threw her onto his shoulder. When she turned her heard back around, she saw the back doors of the van of the catering company she worked for open before them. The inside of the van was completely different. Instead of trays and large freezers there were seats along both sides. Barton took Carolina inside followed by five soldiers, while the sixth one went around the front to sit in the passenger seat next to the waiting driver. When she saw the doors close and felt the van speed off, her heart sank. She failed to get away. What was going to happen to her now?

**Author's Notes: Regarding the title: Yeah, Loki isn't king yet, but he thinks he is, and that's all that matters. :)**


	3. Chapter 3: Into the Woods

**Chapter 3: Into the Woods**

Loki sat upon a small cliff on a mountain watching his false brother fight the billionaire, Tony Stark, in his metal suit below. He seethed at what the God of Thunder told him only minutes ago. _"The throne would suit you ill."_

What did Thor know about what made a king? It had not been so long ago that the blonde god's actions had broken an already-fragile truce between Asgard and the Frost Giants of Jotunheim, thus starting a war between the two realms:

When it had been discovered that Jotun soldiers infiltrated the treasure room of the palace, Thor had been adamant about confronting the King of Jotunheim himself. Odin, the All-Father and King of Asgard, decreed that there was to be no retaliation against Jotunheim in order to keep the peace. Thor, however, threw a tantrum and convinced Loki and their friends to sneak over to Jotunheim where a battle quickly ensued. The Asgardians would have lost their lives had it not been for Odin's intervention. The damage had already been done, however. The truce was broken and war between Asgard and Jotunheim had been declared.

_This_ was the man pontificating to Loki the qualities of a king?

Granted it was he, Loki, who had shielded the Joutnn warriors from the all-seeing gaze of the Bi-frost gatekeeper to allow the transgression in the first place. His reason for such a treasonous act was a pure one: to show Odin, the man he believed to be his father, that Thor was unfit to rule. Little did he know that this act of treachery would lead to the discovery of his true parentage, as well as reaffirm his belief in his true, glorious purpose…

Loki looked down and scoffed at the two men fighting like children over a toy. How long would he have to wait to be taken away to his enemies' prison? Thor had interrupted his plans, and now Loki would have to wait even longer before he got to taste his woman for the first time. He took a moment to savor the thought…his lovely, troublesome, Carolina. Something about that human…how he longed to put her in her place.

To Hel with it, he thought. It was the scepter that his enemies needed to possess for his plan to work, and they already had that. Loki pushed a button hidden under his sleeve that Barton had assured him was a tracking device. Soon his loyal drones would find him and retrieve him. He set off down the mountain, careful to leave a doppelgänger on the cliff to convince Thor and Stark of his continued presence.

After he was far enough away from the fighting pair, but not too far away that they wouldn't search for him there, he stopped and took a tree branch from the ground. He broke it in two and used the sharp edge of one of the pieces to cut his hand. The god had to use his mighty strength to press the branch very deeply into his skin in order to produce any amount of blood. Upon his success, he ventured further, careful to leave a trail of blood in his wake. The cut was already beginning to heal when lightening formed in the skies, and he heard a clap of thunder, as well as his former brother's screams, "LOKI!"

That was the dark god's cue to backtrack a bit before turning left to find a place where he could make himself invisible until Thor and Stark gave up their pursuit. He laughed at the God of Thunder's rage. Thor had obviously discovered he had been watching over a decoy. Was he ever _not_ going to fall for that?

xxx

"It was a copy," Thor told the two men behind him as he looked at the empty spot where his brother's false form had just vanished. He cursed himself for his miscalculation of his brother's intentions. He hoped Loki would wait for him, and they would find a way back home to Asgard.

"'A copy'?" asked a confused Captain Rogers. Moments ago, when they reached the cliff, the captain was surprised to see Thor's hand go straight through the shoulder of what he believed was the criminal, Loki. Then the figure disappeared altogether. "What do you mean 'a copy'?"

Stark answered for the god. "Isn't it obvious, Cap?" His face mask lifted to reveal the very irritated billionaire's face. "Rock of Ages has the ability to make holographic copies of himself, and his own _brother _didn't think he'd use that particular skill to try and escape!" He took a step closer to the god, anger and suspicion etched on his face. "Unless that was your plan all along."

"My intention was and still is to ensure Loki pays for his crimes…" the god bellowed, offended by the dishonorable accusation.

Rogers lifted his own blue mask and scolded the pair, "If you two hadn't been having your own little pissing contest, then you wouldn't have lost the prisoner…"

"_I_ didn't lose the prisoner," interjected Stark. "_I_ was trying to bring him back, but Point Break over here didn't think we mere mortals were worthy enough to perform our _own_ interrogation..."

"You know not of the powers at play here, Metal Man…" Thor couldn't believe these humans didn't understand that he was just trying to protect them and their people.

"Guys, enough!" The aggravated captain ran his fingers through his neat, brown hair. He took a deep breath to calm himself. "This isn't helping. Let's just look for him; he couldn't have gone far." He turned to look at the massive space of woods they would have to cover and quickly conjured up a strategy. "Now this is how we should do it…"

"I've got my own plan, Cap," interrupted Stark as his mask fell back into place. His jet pack elicited a giant pair of flames, and he took to the skies.

Rogers looked up after Stark incredulously. He turned to Thor who was already swinging his massive hammer to build enough momentum and finally flew into the opposite direction of Stark. Rogers sighed as he headed down the cliff. These were certainly not the kind of men he was used to fighting alongside.

Rogers looked around the ground and noticed slight disturbances on the grass and dirt. They looked like footprints. Recalling his tracking skills from seventy years ago, or to him, a few months ago, he began following what he suspected was Loki's route. He journeyed further into the woods until he came upon spots of blood. Was this Loki's blood? Did gods bleed? He looked ahead and all around, searching for the source of the blood. He found none, so he followed the crimson trail until it stopped. Again, he looked around and saw no one. He was about to keep going straight when he realized the tracks he was following actually backtracked a bit and shifted sharply to the left. The captain followed his instincts and pursued the tracks.

xxx

Loki sat on a large rock, invisible to any living form, when he saw Stark in his suit fly into the sky above him. A few moments later he saw Thor take flight in the opposite direction, though both men remained above the woods. They were searching for him. He smirked at the likelihood of their success. They would eventually give up, and once they did, he would head outside the woods and wait for his men to collect him.

He preferred to keep moving, but it would be easier for his men to locate him if he wasn't wandering aimlessly about. He thought about teleporting, but without a specific location in mind it was impossible. All of his men were hours away from Stuttgart by now, and he had no idea where the safe house was located. No, he would wait in the woods.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of rustling leaves and breaking twigs. It was the Man Out of Time in his spectacularly blue uniform. The god had failed to notice the addition to his little party in the woods. It wouldn't have annoyed him so much if the bloody captain weren't meters from his presence; the trail of blood he left was supposed to lead them away from his current location. Loki watched silently as the mortal finally reached the rock and paused. The man looked around confused, and the god made sure not to move or breathe. He was surprised to see the captain study the rock from its base all the way past the top…concentrating on the space above it.

Loki was almost certain he was about to be found out when there was a loud, annoying sound heard in the distance. The distasteful sound repeated a couple of times. Both he and Rogers turned to the source and saw a massive green vehicle blaring two giant lights in their direction. The vehicle was obviously used for carrying large equipment and other assorted items as the back of it had no roof. It stopped just in front of Loki's rock. There were two men inside, both wearing green uniforms that showed they worked in the area of the woods. The driver of the vehicle spoke.

Loki sat amused as he saw the captain struggle to understand the man, but the entertainment was short-lived as the ground shook with the arrival of Thor and Stark. The two men in the vehicle gasped shocked and amazed at the scene of the two astounding figures joining the third man before them.

"What's going on, Captain Landbound?" asked Stark as his mask lifted. He studied the men in the truck, who marveled at his presence; he was used to that kind of reaction.

"I'm not sure," replied Rogers, ignoring the jab at his inability to fly. He looked at what he assumed were park rangers, "They're speaking German."

"Come on, Cap. You didn't pick up any German while you were all over Germany heroically killing, well, Germans?" Stark couldn't help but give the war hero a hard time.

"German _Nazis_, Stark," the Captain corrected and defensively added, "And of course I did. Survival German. _Warzone_ German. I didn't go to some fancy school where…"

They were interrupted by the man who had spoken earlier. He was clearly requesting information about who they were and what they were doing there. Stark tried to recall his study of the language from high school when Thor beat him to it.

"We are here to find a criminal hiding in your woods," responded Thor in perfect German. "Have you seen him? He is my height with dark, long hair, dressed in black and green."

Stark and Rogers stared at Thor dumbly. How the hell did _he_ know German? And how did he speak it better than they did?

The driver answered the god, and he and Thor had a small exchange, then the two men in the vehicle drove away. Stark and Rogers' eyes followed the vehicle's path until it made a turn and was out of sight. Then they turned their attention to the blonde god.

"He said they have not seen him, but they will aid us in our search," explained Thor to the two humans staring incredulously at him.

Stark and Rogers answered in unison. "I know." "I understood that." Stark was the one to ask the nagging question, "How the hell does an alien from another planet know German?"

"German? Was that what that was?" wondered Thor aloud ignoring the slightly insulting moniker. "Every high-ranking Asgardian warrior is given knowledge of the languages used in the nine realms. It allows us to communicate with our allies as well as our enemies. It is how I am able to speak your language."

Stark rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Of course," then he lowered his mask and looked around for any sign of the insane god.

Rogers leaped up on top of the rock previously occupied by Loki. His balance was impeccable as he slowly turned in a complete circle at the top, looking for any clues to Loki's whereabouts. "Where the hell is he?"

xxx

On the back of the park ranger truck, Loki, the god of deceit, removed the spell that allowed him to become invisible. He released an audible sigh as he dusted himself off. He was glad to be away from his enemies. He had more to do before he could properly crush them like the ants they were. And Thor…well if he couldn't recognize the humans needed Loki to rule them, then he deserved to share in their fate.

The truck slightly reduced its speed on the dirt road. The rustling of leaves overhead was the only warning given before a man jumped into the back of the truck from an above tree branch. Then the truck resumed its normal speed and turned into the main road.

Loki grinned at the leaf-covered form of Agent Barton. He reached into his sleeve to disable the hidden tracking device. "Clever instrument," was his only offer of praise.

Barton nodded and said, "Sir," as his reply. He continued removing the leaves and twigs from in and around his vest, no longer needing them to help conceal him.

"And my lady? I trust she was not overly troublesome?" Loki was glad of Thor's interruption. It would allow him to visit with Carolina much earlier than originally planned. His mouth watered with the thought of seeing her again, and feeling her and tasting her for the first time. His salacious thoughts were interrupted by Barton's response.

"She is secured in the safe house, sir. But I should tell you that as soon as you left the castle, she attempted an escape." Though Barton saw Loki's eyes grow hard and furious, he wasn't afraid. Only regretful. "I'm sorry I failed you, sir."

Loki reached out and grabbed Barton by the throat and pulled him toward him, causing the man to kneel in front of the god. Barton's instinct was to escape the deadly hold on him, which he was more than capable of doing with any human, but he reminded himself that it was his master's will to punish him for failing in his mission. If Loki saw fit to kill him, then it would be an honor to die by his hands.

"You had but one task," the god said through gritted teeth as he squeezed both his hands tighter around Barton's neck. "How was it that such a small, weak woman was able to overpower a skilled warrior and government-trained assassin such as yourself?" He shook the agent when he received no response. Barton's face began changing colors, so Loki sighed and pushed him away, releasing his deadly grip. Barton coughed and greedily sucked the air he suddenly had access to. Loki leaned back against the side of the truck trying to calm his rage. He turned his head to Barton who was barely beginning to breath normally again, and with a tone full of warning and promise said, "Do not let it happen again."


	4. Chapter 4: The Safe House

**Author's Notes: Sorry, guys. This is a really short chapter. I'll try to get another one out sooner. Thanks a bunch to everyone who favorited and is following this story. It means a lot to me, and I hope I don't let you down. Also, in case you haven't figured it out, I really mess with the events of the movie. Like, a lot. Thanks!**

**Chapter 4: The Safe House  
**

Carolina didn't know how long she had been in the back of the fake catering van with Loki's brainwashed agents. She was seated between two men and Barton sat across from her, watching her every movement as if anticipating another attempt at escape. She couldn't formulate a shopping list in her head at that moment, let alone an escape plan. She was numb with the reality of the situation she was in. Her mind was full of so many thoughts and, at the same time, nothing at all. She briefly noticed the agent in the front passenger seat making phone calls, but she didn't try to figure out what she was talking about.

At some point Barton's attention was drawn from Carolina to some small, beeping, hand-held device he took out of his pocket. Barton told the driver to make a quick detour before the vehicle stopped, and he and two other agents got out. Then the van continued on its path and she was left with the remaining five agents. Again, she didn't know how much longer they traveled before they eventually stopped.

The back doors of the van opened, but she didn't make a move to leave until one agent hopped out and told her to get out. She hesitated before making her way out of the vehicle and walking up to the agent. Her body tensed at the anticipation of whatever was to come. She looked up at the agent but his face was expressionless. Then she noticed they were outside of a huge mansion.

She only had enough time to notice the dozens of agents scattering around as well as the many hummers, trucks, and SUVs gathered in front of the mansion before the first agent told her to follow him. They began walking towards the mansion, and she was immediately flanked by the other two agents. They were clearly taking no chances with her. Upon passing the threshold of the house, she was amazed by the expansive decorative hall and the tiled spiral staircase to the side.

The four were met by a middle-aged woman a couple of inches taller than Carolina, with short brown hair, dressed in black dress slacks and a light, pink cardigan. The first agent addressed the woman, "Agna Huber?"

"Yes," answered the woman in a German accent. She turned to Carolina and looked her over before smiling. "And this must be the King's companion?" Carolina was bothered that Loki was already calling himself a king. She was also surprised to be given such a strange title. She didn't answer the woman; she just looked at her confused. The woman walked ahead of the first agent and politely said, "This way, if you please."

The older woman led them up the stairs and down one of the long corridors. They passed by a few closed doors and a sitting area. Carolina noticed portraits hung on the walls-some painted, some photographed. The older woman was in a few of them. Was this her home?

Finally they stopped in front of a pair of giant double-doors. The woman opened both doors, turned on a light switch, and stepped to one side. None of the agents made a move to go inside. Carolina looked up at the agent she was following, and he beckoned for her to enter the room. She took a deep breath and walked in. As soon as she did, the doors closed behind her and she was left alone with the middle-aged woman.

The woman's smile was friendly, but there was no mistaking the familiar blue glow in her eyes. "I hope you find the accommodations to your liking, Miss."

The room…or rooms…were magnificent. There was a small sitting area off to the right of the doors, and to the left was the bedroom. An elegant four-poster bed, king-sized by her guess, with fine linens and matching bedside tables on either side. In front of the bed was a stone fireplace. There were various doors around the bedroom alone. Was this a room or a suite?

Carolina gave the woman a confused look. She was still in her waitress uniform and she felt completely out of place. She crossed her arms, a bit embarrassed by her appearance. When her catering company worked in mansions and castles such as these, she and her coworkers were confined to the kitchens, dining areas, and main halls. She had never dared venture to any of the private rooms, and yet, here she was. This room was probably one of the main suites.

The woman pointed to the door on the far right corner of the room. "This is the washroom, Miss," then she pointed to the door on the left corner. "That is the closet," then she pointed to a pair of glass doors to the left of the room, "Those lead to the balcony," then to the door at the corner of the wall to the right of the fireplace, "And that leads to the king's suite."

Carolina's head snapped to face the woman. "The king's suite?" she repeated, fear threatening to overcome her again. She was not looking forward to seeing Loki again. Especially after her failed escape attempt. He made it clear before that he wouldn't hesitate to kill her to make an example out of her.

"Yes, child. The king would like to keep you close." The woman gracefully walked over to Carolina, took her arm, and gently led her to the door to the closet. Carolina let her. Despite the fact that the woman was under Loki's influence, she did not scare her like the agents did. She felt oddly at ease with her. She was more afraid of seeing Loki again. "Come and tell me if you approve of the clothes."

When the woman opened the door, Carolina was surprised by how massive the closet was. It was bigger than her bedroom in the tiny flat she lived in Stuttgart. The walls were lined with dressers, mirrors, hanging clothes, and even a sofa. It was like a mini department store.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but we had such short notice of your arrival and we did not know your size," explained the woman. "Some of these we bought this evening, some are my daughter's, she is away at university, and some are mine…when I was younger. Would you like to try anything on?"

There was so much to absorb. She was standing in a suite in some stranger's home she was expected to stay in, with clothes she could never expect to afford herself. The door to where Loki would reside was just a few feet away from the bed she was to sleep in. She didn't know what to say. She just looked at the woman dumbfounded.

The woman looked back at her worriedly, "Are you alright, my child? We will measure you in the morning and buy new clothes for you if you do not approve of these." Carolina didn't respond, so the woman continued, "Would you like something to eat? Would you like to sleep?"

The latter seemed like a good idea, so Carolina nodded. "Maybe I could go to bed?" Perhaps this way, she could be left alone with her many thoughts.

The woman smiled as she walked over to one of the chests of drawers. She opened one and pulled out a brand new thin, white night dress. "You can wear one of these," she handed the young woman the article of clothing.

Carolina accepted it and let the fabric run through her fingers. It felt like it was made of silk. It was exquisite. Although she knew the woman was helping her because she was following Loki's orders, Carolina was touched by her kindness. "Thank you, Frau…" She had already forgotten what the agent called the older woman.

"Frau Agna Huber at your service, Miss." The woman nodded her head politely.

Carolina gave her a small smile. "Carolina Leon," she nodded back. Agna Huber. The name sounded familiar. "Were you at the charity event this evening in Stuttgart?" She recalled seeing the name on a plaque of some sort.

"Yes, Miss Leon," her eyes lit up. "That is where my husband and I met the king. We were to be honored for our charity work, but that is nothing compared to the honor of serving the king. He had us return home and prepare for his arrival and that of his men. A few hours later, we were told that you would also be joining us."

Carolina nodded in understanding. Even though the woman looked more than happy to have her stay in such a beautiful room, Carolina couldn't help but feel guilty about Loki taking over her mind and her home. "Is this your room?"

"No, Miss Leon. This is _your_ room." She politely corrected. "And it is an honor to have you and the king stay here." Frau Huber really did look like it was a privilege.

"But before…" Carolina pressed on, "Was this your room?"

"No," Frau Huber patiently answered, "My mother stayed here until she passed away a few years ago. My husband and I stayed where the king will stay now."

Carolina felt even worse. The false king had kicked the sweet woman and her husband from their bedroom. "Where will you stay now?"

"We are staying in one of the many guest bedrooms. I am so very glad the rooms are finally being occupied after so many years, and by the king's many agents, no less."

Carolina could not remove the worried expression from her face, but she knew it was useless to try to explain how sorry she was for Frau Huber and her family. "Thank you, Frau Huber. You are a gracious hostess."

Frau Huber nodded in response, "I live to serve the king. I will leave you to rest now, Miss. If there is anything you require, please let one of the agents know, and I will come at once."

Carolina was about to protest and say that the woman needn't worry about her but thought better of it. She merely sighed and said, "Thank you. I will."

Frau Huber made her way to the double doors and left. Before the doors closed again, Carolina saw the two agents standing outside the room, no doubt to keep her from leaving. She sat on top of the bed with the night dress still in her hands and sighed. She desperately tried to keep the tears that were threatening to spill at bay. What had she gotten herself into?

Xxx

It had been hours since Loki's disappearance from the woods and the search party had given up hope. Thor, Captain Rogers, and Tony Stark had been joined by Agent Natasha Romanoff and another group of SHIELD agents in the search for the missing dark god. It was time to call it a night.

"Guys, he's gone," said Agent Romanoff to the three men. "Two of you are capable of flight, and the other is an enhanced super soldier. If you guys and two SHIELD Quinjets can't find him, then he just isn't here. Agents," she called out to her scattered subordinates, "Head back to base!"

The agents made their way back to the second Quinjet and took off. Romanoff watched as Rogers reluctantly made his way into their air craft carrier. Stark gave Thor an evil glare before following behind Rogers. Thor stayed where he was, still looking through the woods. "Thor," called Romanoff, "We could really use your help."

Thor began swinging his hammer and said to the woman, "I will help you and the people of Earth, Natasha Romanoff, by finding my brother and the tesseract, and taking them back to Asgard." Before the agent could say anything, Thor was in the air.

Romanoff watched the god fly out of sight, then joined the crew inside the Quinjet before the door closed behind her. She was disappointed Thor wouldn't join them, but at least they had the scepter to study. A voice started speaking into her earpiece. Apparently, there was some interesting information coming in about what happened on the ground in Stuttgart hours ago.


	5. Chapter 5: Carolina

**Author's Note: I've rewritten the beginning of this chapter. I've drastically cut the section on Carolina's back story. (I was told it was too overwhelming to read all at once).  
**

**WARNING: There is sex in this chapter, so if you're under eighteen-years-old, don't read it. Also, there is mention of domestic violence. Please keep that in mind before deciding to read this chapter.**

**There's also sex in this chapter. Again I'll mention how this is my first fanfic as well as my first sex scene. (Yes, I'm a sex-scene virgin, which is why it'll be a short section). I welcome criticism and advice about the scene, even if that sounds a bit awkward. I hope you like it!**

**Chapter 5: Carolina  
**

Carolina stood on the balcony outside the suite Frau Huber had given her. It wasn't too cold outside, nothing she hadn't gotten used to in the eight months she lived in Germany. Although it was usually colder than the weather she was used to in northern California, it only took her body a couple of weeks to acclimate to the change. Now if she could only adjust to _this_ recent change…

Was she being punished? Carolina sighed. She thought she already paid her dues to the universe, if such a thing were possible. She knew she was a terror to her poor grandmother after her parents died in that car crash when she was thirteen. She ignored the woman who tried to give her love and support after such a tragedy.

When she was in high school she ditched classes, went to drinking parties, and started dating a twenty-one-year-old man named David. After her grandmother died when she was eighteen, she dropped out of school and moved in with him. It was blissful until he took his work-related frustrations out on her. At first she held her own, pushing and hitting back. It was harder when he started punching her and using her insecurities against her.

David somehow knew what to say to make her feel small: she was stupid, ugly, terrible in bed, a terrible girlfriend overall; she was lucky he didn't leave her for someone better. Soon she started to believe his words. The façade of confidence she displayed was slipping away, and it made him feel powerful and more in control. She was feeling smaller and smaller. She was losing herself and who she was.

A big part of her thought she deserved it. She was so horrible to her grandmother when the dear woman had nothing but love and good intentions towards her. It was a just punishment: to suffer as her grandmother had suffered. Inside in silence, slowly breaking and feeling helpless to stop it. She was a shell of her former self.

Even after fate took David out of her life, his words stayed with her. It took her years to find her way out of her hopeless state of mind, to live her life, to try to be happy. Living in Stuttgart helped. She enjoyed her work at the catering company; it was a lot of hard work, but it was also fun and exciting…

Carolina's thoughts returned to the present. Now she was a prisoner. She somehow found herself in a horrible situation with some powerful being hell-bent on taking over the world as well as her womb. He was a tyrant and he would try to break her and control her, but he would fail.

She sighed and returned to the bedroom. Loki was gone for now. Maybe she should try to get some sleep before she had to deal with him again. She went into the bathroom, washed her face, turned off the bedroom light, and took off her shoes. She would sleep in her clothes. She couldn't bring herself to wear the expensive, and very short, night dress Frau Huber chose for her. She took out her ponytail and ran her fingers through her hair. She heard slight movement behind her, and she gasped as she felt a hand grab her throat and an arm push her body back into a man's chest.

"Did you enjoy yourself, my pet?" growled a deep, deadly voice in her ear.

Carolina was frozen in fear when she suddenly felt her body spin, and she found herself against a wall. She wasn't expecting to see Loki again so soon, but there he was. He didn't have his armor on and she didn't see his scepter. It didn't matter. She knew he was still dangerous. Her body trembled in fear, and yet, she tried to keep her composure.

Loki placed a hand against the wall on either side of her head. His eyes bore into hers and his chest heaved with his anger. "You tried to run away," he accused her.

She spat her answer before she could think, "Of course I did!" She was shocked by her sudden spout of bravery, but she knew her own eyes were filled with a mixture of rage and fear. She hurriedly wondered if perhaps he wouldn't be as angry with her if she showed him a fraction of the respect he thought he deserved. She swallowed her pride and added, "Sir."

She saw his eyes narrow slightly as he studied her. He leaned down so he was at eye-level with her. "Your attempts at escape are not something I will tolerate," he warned, glaring at her.

"I'm sorry," she said through gritted teeth, "I've never been kidnapped before. Excuse me for not behaving like an ideal abductee." Her nostrils flared as she added, "Sir." She tried to remember that she needed to control herself. She was lucky he didn't snap her neck right then, but if she wasn't being a smartass then she wasn't being herself. And she wouldn't lose herself. Not to him.

Loki looked at the mortal before him. She had the audacity to be cross with him? Instead of his rage rising by her remarks, he found it subsiding. She was stupid for not being more afraid, but he found himself amused by her bravery. "You were not abducted," he corrected her, "You were chosen. You should be kissing my feet for giving you such an honor."

Carolina bit her lip to prevent herself from scoffing at the statement. She was trapped with a madman who told her earlier he had no problem killing her. She had to keep that in mind before saying anything. She took a deep breath to calm her outrage and simply said, "Yes, sir."

Loki's head twitched at her response. He looked irritated. "Do not address me that way." He saw her confused expression and explained, "Only my mindless drones call me, 'sir.'" His expression shifted and he smiled as his eyes took in her lovely neck and he helped himself to a taste. He grinned when he heard her gasp in surprise and her hands instinctively grabbed his upper arms to try to push him away. He was much stronger than she was, but he noticed she didn't push away with as much force as she could have.

Carolina felt his hands slowly undo the buttons on her blouse as he softly said against her ear, "When we are alone, you may call me 'Loki.'" He took the lower part of her ear in his mouth and sucked on it, teasing it with his tongue, eliciting an involuntary moan from her lips. "Otherwise," he kissed the spot on her neck below her ear, "You may call me, 'my lord,'" then he kissed the spot below that, "'my prince,'" he kissed the spot where her neck and shoulder met, "'my king,'" he was down to her collarbone now, "'Your Majesty,'" he gently lowered the straps of her bra exposing her breasts that were rising and falling with her shallow breathing.

Her mind was racing as it concentrated on his sensual kisses that she didn't hear all the other self-important titles he was making up. She just felt his wet mouth make its way down between her breasts and finally find her right nipple. He licked it at first, causing it to elongate at his touch, then he took it between his teeth, sucking on it, tasting it, and finally biting it. "Oh," she leaned her head against the wall behind her and moaned louder than she meant to, "my god!"

She heard a small chuckle. "Yes," he breathed against her nipple, "that is also acceptable." She felt moist between her legs and wondered how this man could make her body react so wantonly using just his mouth while other men fell short using so much more. She felt a chill as she realized that Loki had completely removed her blouse and bra and was now removing her skirt and panties. Standing completely naked, she immediately crossed her arms over her breasts and crossed her ankles. She lowered her head trying to hide her embarrassed, red cheeks.

Loki was amused by her newfound modesty. He wasn't naïve enough to believe she was pure. Women of this realm and in the land she came from, in particularly, did not save their virtue for their husbands. He tried not to think about how many men might have touched her before. He swept her in his arms, relishing the feel of her skin on his hands, and lowered her onto the bed. She kept her head on the pillow, but turned her head to the side. Her body was shaking. The moment she had been dreading, and he had been eagerly anticipating, had finally arrived. He took in every inch of her exposed body as he began disrobing. Where was that defiant mouth now, he wondered. For a split second he imagined it around his hard cock, but he quickly dismissed the idea. That would be for another time.

Carolina felt the bed shift under Loki's weight, and she turned her head towards him. His lean yet muscular body was kneeling above her, tall and gloriously naked, his manly organ erect and ready. His skin was flawless and his face was beautiful: high cheekbones, long forehead, light skin against dark hair, and lustful, green eyes. The figure before her looked every bit the god he claimed to be. He raised an eyebrow, held out his arms, and smiled down at her, "I'm pleased you approve."

Carolina hadn't noticed that her mouth was agape. She closed her mouth and turned her head away again. She heard him laugh as he bent down and gently uncrossed her arms that covered her chest. She didn't resist, but she balled her hands into fists beside her. She felt so humiliated and exposed. She should have tried to stop him, but she knew it would have been useless.

Loki wasn't a fool. He knew his little Carolina did not want him to take her, despite the strong scent of her arousal. He never had to force a woman before. Of course there had been noble ladies in Asgard that protested after he lured them to his bedchambers, but by the end of the night they were begging for his cock. He would enjoy making her beg.

Again, his eyes greedily absorbed her naked form: her full breasts, her slender neck, her small shoulders, her tight abdomen, and the bit of hair he could see through her still-crossed legs. "Beautiful," he murmured. He noticed Carolina flinch at the compliment. Did she think he was being insincere? Perhaps she wasn't used to men voicing their appreciation of her body? That thought pleased him.

He grinned as he leaned over her and claimed her mouth. He licked her lips and forced her mouth open with his tongue. He was glad she didn't resist him as his tongue searched for hers. When he found it, he licked it and sucked at it and bit it until she gasped. He savored her lips a bit more before he took the skin by her mouth and sucked on it, working his way down the left side of her neck; the side he neglected minutes ago. He felt her swallow hard when he reached her throat. He finally reached her breast and took it in his mouth as he had done with the other one-licking it, sucking it, biting it…

Carolina tried to steady her erratic breathing as Loki took in her skin all the way down to her abdomen. His cool hands moved to her back to lift up her body for better access to her bellybutton. He didn't stop there. He kept working his way down. His hands smoothly moved to her backside, then over her thighs where he separated her legs, placing one on either side of him. He kissed her just above her opening.

"No," she suddenly spoke, trying to close her legs, but he kept them apart. "Please don't." She covered her face with her hands, embarrassed. No one's mouth had ever paid attention to that part of her; it was so intimate. For some reason she was worried she might disgust him.

Through the fingers over her face she could see him grinning mischievously up at her from between her legs. Her protest only encouraged his pursuit. Her body tensed as he slowly slid his tongue over her entire opening, lapping the juices he made her produce. She shivered slightly as his tongue searched for her sensitive nub. When he found it, he inserted two fingers into her hot core, causing her to cry out. It had clearly been some time since anyone was inside her. That pleased him. While his mouth attended to her outside, his fingers curled repeatedly inside.

Carolina felt herself begin to clench and spasm around the fingers inside her, her hips involuntarily bucking, trying to dig his fingers further in, her breathing uncontrollable. She felt her orgasm building, her hands grabbing the sheets below her, when it suddenly stopped. Her release did not come.

She looked down at Loki and saw him raise his head and slip his fingers out of her. He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and smiled at the whimpering sound that escaped her mouth. He hovered over her body and his face was inches from her pleading expression. He placed one hand beside her head, bent down, and softly whispered, "Ready?"

Before she could decipher his question she felt him thrust himself inside her, stretching her completely. She cried out in pain as she arched her back and threw her head against the pillow. Loki stilled inside her, allowing her to adjust to his girth, and merely looked at the expression her face made. Her eyes and mouth were wide open, he could fit his cock in that mouth if it weren't otherwise occupied. He saw as tears ran down her eyes and into her hair. He leaned over to one side of her face and licked away the tears there. After a few more moments, her face relaxed as her body grew accustomed to him inside her. He took possession of her mouth, as his hips began to rock back and forth, eliciting grunts from both of them. He began slowly to savor the feel of her around him, but his body reminded him that it had been a long time since he had been inside a woman, and it demanded satisfaction.

Carolina's hands firmly gripped his muscular arms as his hips picked up speed. He knew it wouldn't be long before his release, so he took his hand between where they were joined, and worked her sensitive clit. He knew her own orgasm was building anew as her hands squeezed his arms tighter, her moans were more erratic, and her walls were clenching tighter. Finally, her body stilled as the wave of her orgasm overtook her. With her last squeeze of his cock inside her, he found his own release.

Loki collapsed onto her and breathed heavily next to her face. She was looking up at the ceiling trying to calm her own breathing. They stayed that way for a minute before Loki raised his head and looked into her lovely, brown eyes. She didn't know if he was looking for something specific in them or if he was just curious. She felt him sweep her hair completely off her face, sweat glistening on both their faces. Finally he said in a satisfied tone, "Yes. I shall keep you."

She watched as he ignored the shocked and confused look on her face, removed his soft length from inside her, and walked across the room and through the door adjoining their two rooms. What the hell had just happened?

**Author's Notes: Was it good for you? ;)**


	6. Chapter 6: Seeking Jane Foster

**A/N: Sorry this chapter is super short. That's why I'm posting two.**

**Chapter 6: Seeking Jane Foster**

Thor had directed his hammer to take him toward an area of great concentrated power. The first stop had been a place in the middle of various empty fields. Though it was dark outside, he could tell that the grass was very green and well nourished. He felt the cold air penetrate his skin, but it did not bother him. He had fought in the land of the Frost Giants with little protection from the elements. This bit of cold was rather pleasant.

Looking around to where Mjölnir had taken him, he noticed there were various large, tall, ancient-looking stones organized in such a fashion that led him to believe they once formed two circles: one inside the other. He sensed great power within the area of the stones, but this was not the concentration of power he was looking for. With one final look at the fascinating formation, he swung his hammer and took off again.

Thor flew through the sky much longer than he did the last time. He flew over a vast body of water; it was an ocean. At last he landed next to a large, massive water fountain with a statue overlooking the pool. The area was open and surrounded by natural beauty: grand trees, shrubs, flowers, and a giant lake. The stone fountain itself was shaped to look like what Midgardians called a winged-angel with four cherubs standing beneath her. Though Thor could appreciate the architectural allure of the area, it was not the place he was looking for; so again, he directed Mjölnir to take him to the skies.

This time, Thor landed in the middle of a dirt field. The sun could be seen in the sky in this part of the world; the air felt hot and a bit dry. The desert land felt familiar. This was where he landed not one year ago when the All-father banished him from Asgard. This was the area of great power he searched for.

Thor walked a bit and saw in the distance a large and greatly guarded facility unlike the one he had forced his way through during his first visit there to locate Mjölnir. The building was rebuilt in a more stable and permanent manner as opposed to the temporary structure it began as.

Thor felt uneasy about the agency responsible for the facility. Though one of their agents had gained his trust the year before, the agency itself did not earn his complete confidence. He thought perhaps he should announce himself properly so as not to appear threatening to the people within. Instead of climbing the wired fence bordering the building, Thor walked around looking for a visible entrance. He could see guards stationed on high buildings carrying their long, firing weapons. The guards noticed him, but made no move to stop him. A few appeared to be talking to themselves, but Thor knew humans could communicate through small electrical devices. Perhaps they were informing others of his arrival.

He finally reached the only visible entrance: a path where vehicles entered and exited, but had to stop at a tall, but confining-looking box with a man inside it. He must have been the gatekeeper. Outside the box was another man with a large firearm. A guard.

As Thor watched the vehicles pass by, he squeezed his hammer tighter as he recalled how painful it had been to be struck by one of the Midgardian vehicles. Though they could not harm him much now, the memory was enough to warrant staying out of their path.

Thor walked directly toward the large box when there were no more vehicles around to hit him. As soon as the guard saw Thor he pointed his firearm at him. "Drop the weapon!" he demanded. Looking down at his hammer, Thor understood the guard's uneasiness. Mjölnir could level the entire building with just a few blows. Thor slowly lowered his hammer and stepped back. The guard then demanded that Thor identify himself. The gatekeeper popped his head out the large window of the box to watch the goings on.

Both the guard and the gatekeeper studied Thor intensely. He forgot that his manner of dress was not commonly worn in this realm. He looked at the guard and announced, "I am Thor of Asgard, son of Odin the All-father."

The guard eyed him suspiciously as the gatekeeper spoke into an electrical device in his box. "What are you doing here?"

"I am here to see Jane Foster or to inquire as to her whereabouts." Thor was surprised his first answer was not greeted with ridiculing laughter and disbelief.

"There is no one here by that name. You should leave, sir." The guard nodded his head toward the direction Thor had come from, but pointed his weapon away from the god.

Thor knew that the agency had asked Jane Foster to aid them in their scientific research, particularly in finding a way to open a portal between their world and Asgard. Did she no longer continue working with them? "Then I would see Erik Selvig."

"There is no Erik Selvig here," the guard immediately said, "Again, sir, I suggest you leave." The guard spoke more forcefully this time.

Thor _knew_ Erik Selvig was working with the agency. Heimdall, the all-seeing gatekeeper, had mentioned to him not long ago that Dr. Selvig was studying the powers of the tesseract. There would be no reason for him to leave the monumentally important task. "Agent Coulson, then." Thor allowed his voice to rise a bit in his growing frustration.

The guard's eyes widened. Finally, a flicker of recognition at one of the names Thor mentioned. "I'm going to need to see some identification, sir."

It was Thor's turn to be surprised. The man wanted proof of his identity? He was Thor, God of Thunder. Perhaps he should use Mjölnir to summon a bit of lightening onto the man's head! He let out a frustrated sigh. He did not want to cause a disturbance, but he would have to if they did not let him inside. The guard's expression suddenly shifted slightly. Did he just roll his eyes?

Thor heard light footsteps approach from behind. He turned around to see a young woman with long dark hair, glasses, and a very cheerful smile carrying a small parcel in her hands. "Thor! I thought I recognized that ass through that cape!"

Not quite understanding her statement, Thor's face lit up glad to finally see a friendly face since his return to the realm. "Darcy Lewis!" He grabbed the small woman and lifted her off her feet to give her a giant embrace.

She giggled at the sudden loss of floor beneath her feet. "Hey, handsome, what are you doing at our neck of the universe?" she asked as Thor lowered her back down.

Thor turned to look at the guard who watched their exchange but said nothing. "I came to see Jane, but I am told they do not know of her at all."

Darcy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, they're all very hush-hush around here. I've never been inside this place because I'm not a scientist or a secret agent or whatever." She looked over at the guard. "Hey, George. How's it goin'?"

The guard sighed, "Ms. Lewis, you shouldn't be here..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," interrupted the young woman as she handed the guard the parcel. She looked at the George and spoke very earnestly. "This is very important physics research stuff for Jane Foster. Make sure she gets it."

"There is no Jane Foster here," informed the guard, though he took the parcel anyway.

"Yeah, I know," Darcy dismissed the statement. "Thanks, George."

Thor looked at Darcy hopefully, "So Jane is here?"

Darcy frowned slightly, "No, sorry," she said. "Come on. Let's get outta here and I'll explain."

With a disappointed look, Thor took a step towards his hammer. When the guard didn't do anything but watch him, Thor bent down and took Mjölnir. He turned around, offered his arm to Darcy, and they walked in the other direction.

"Where is Jane, Darcy?" his voice was full of concern. "Why do they deny knowing her when they clearly do? And Erik Selvig?"

"It's just SHIELD, you know. Everything's top secret." Darcy explained. "Jane's been working here since you left. She's been trying to get to you; to see you again. She's kind of obsessed."

Heimdall had told him as much. Thor was confident that one day Jane would find a way for them to visit each other's worlds and, thus, see each other again. But now that he was back there was no reason to delay their reunion.

Thor stopped walking and put a hand on Darcy's shoulder. "Where is she?" he asked again, "Please I must see her."

Darcy looked at him and gave him a sad smile. "I don't know where she is, Thor. A couple of days ago, she told me about an amazing opportunity that suddenly came up in the SHIELD organization. She couldn't tell me what she would be doing, but that it would really help her in her research."

"Just two days ago?" Thor asked as they began walking again. The timing oddly coincided with Loki's arrival on Midgard.

Darcy noticed his suspicious tone and matched it with her own. "Yeah, it was very last-minute. Jane thought it was…weird that she would have to leave that day, but she talked to Phil about it..."

"Phil?" Thor cut her off. Had Jane met another man?

"Agent Coulson." Darcy laughed at his jealous tone, "That's his first name: Phil." She saw Thor's expression soften as he laughed at himself as well. "Anyway, he's the only guy that works for SHIELD that Jane trusts. Well, besides Erik but he has his own project going on. He's been gone for almost a year now, but he keeps in touch. Anyway, Phil pretty much convinced her to take the job. He said it would hopefully be a short-term relocation-that she should be able to come back after a while. She's okay, though. She called me this afternoon to check in and told me to send her some of her research…"

Thor suddenly stopped walking, surprising Darcy. He sighed, relieved, as the truth dawned on him. "Thank Odin, they are keeping her safe." He went on not noticing the confused look on Darcy's face. "I had hoped she could assist me in locating the tesseract or my brother, but this is best." He was disappointed he would not be able to see Jane right away, but he felt a great weight lifted knowing she was being taken care of. And by Agent Coulson. He turned to the confused Darcy and said, "You must stay safe as well, Darcy. And Erik Selvig. Great danger lies ahead."

**A/N: Did anyone figure out where the first two places of "concentrated power" were? The first one should be obvious...I hope.**


	7. Chapter 7: The Morning After

**Warning: This chapter contains sex and spanking. If you're under 18, then don't read it.**

**Chapter 7: The Morning After**

When Carolina woke up wearing the expensive night dress Frau Huber had given her, and lying in the bed her gracious hostess asked her to sleep in, she knew the events of the last twelve hours had not been a dream. Her mind flashed to the night before. Loki, a crazed self-proclaimed deity planning to take over her world, had given her the best sex she had ever had. Ever.

When Loki had carried her to the bed, Carolina tried to tell herself it would be like having sex with David. He would take what he needed and it would be over in a matter of minutes. All she had to do was not think of the impossible situation she was in. But then she saw Loki's naked form before her. He looked exquisite and all thoughts of David were out of her mind. Then Loki's mouth explored body, her womanhood, and she responded…

Carolina shamefully covered her face as she remembered. Why had she let him do that to her? She rationalized that if she hadn't allowed it, Loki would have forced her anyway and it would have been extremely unpleasant for her…instead of what it actually was.

No man had ever considered her sexual needs before. She never voiced those desires with David because it didn't really occur to her to do so…she was just glad to have someone in her life…to not be alone. The other two men she had slept with before were the ones she slept with because she thought that's what a relationship consisted of…but they were interested in their own completion and never made an attempt to see her again afterwards. Carolina wasn't naive enough to think that Loki cared about her satisfaction. She knew it was one of his methods of control. He controlled her body, her breathing, the sounds she made, all to gratify his ego…to prove his ability as a lover and his power over her…and she confirmed those beliefs.

Was this what her life was going to be now? Trapped one bedroom away from a power-hungry murderer, at his beck and call for his…pleasure, like some sex slave? She thought she was past being someone's property. She already lived under the same roof as a man who sought to control, belittle, and dominate her. She thought she was free to live her life now…to find her own way. How had she come to this unfortunate place again?

A knock at the door brought Carolina back from her thoughts. The doors opened and the cheerful figure of Frau Huber walked in with a few small items in her hand. The doors were closed behind her by the two agents still outside the bedroom, and the older woman walked over to Carolina.

"Miss Leon," the soft voice greeted the younger woman, "I hope you slept well."

Carolina felt her cheeks blush as she sat up in the bed. She hoped Frau Huber didn't know what happened the night before. Of course not, she told herself. She was just being polite. "Yes, I did. Thank you."

"I am glad. Now there is much to do today." The kind woman gently removed the bedding away from Carolina and held out a hand to aid the young woman out of bed. Carolina felt the gesture was completely unnecessary, but she accepted the help nonetheless. "Was the night dress to your liking, child?" asked Frau Huber after noticing Carolina's apparel.

Carolina smiled. She wasn't used to wearing night dresses to bed. She usually wore shorts or sweats and a t-shirt, but since she didn't want to sleep naked after her night with Loki, she wore the night dress in lieu of putting her waitress uniform back on. "It was very comfortable. Thank you, Frau Huber."

"Excellent. Now, I will measure you for your new clothes." Frau Huber set a small notepad and pencil onto the nightstand next to the bed. She began unraveling the long, plastic measuring tape in her hand. "Please stand straight and tall, my dear."

Feeling rather silly, Carolina followed Frau Huber's instructions as the older woman took her measurements and wrote them down on her notepad. After they were done, Carolina said, "I don't mean to be rude, Frau Huber, but I don't think I need new clothes. What you have in the closet is more than enough."

"Oh, you misunderstand, my child. You will only take what fits you properly. Also, I must buy you dresses worthy of the king's eyes…"

"Dresses?" Carolina laughed awkwardly. "I don't really wear dresses, Frau Huber. I mostly wear jeans, I mean, I wear skirts for work…"

"Those are the king's orders," the older woman kindly informed her, as if the statement settled the matter.

Carolina felt her brow furrow, but she sighed. She was not going to argue over something so arbitrary. "If those are the kings orders, then it's the way it should be," she said a bit bitterly.

"Exactly." Frau Huber sounded pleased thinking Carolina finally understood, missing her sarcastic tone completely. "Now you must bathe and dress before you go downstairs for breakfast. Come." She walked Carolina over to the bathroom, showed her where everything was, then left.

As soon as the warm spray of water overhead splashed her body, Carolina felt herself relax. She knew there would be much to deal with outside the bathroom, but in the enclosed space of the shower and its warmth, she would not let herself think about it, at least for a few short minutes. She breathed in the jasmine scent from the shampoo bottle as she washed her hair, giving her head a much-needed massage. Then she cleaned herself with the lavender-scented body wash. She thought about the night before, and she imagined she was washing the sweat and fluids away, making herself clean once more.

Reluctant to leave her newfound haven, she made herself turn off the shower. She twisted her hair in her hands and squeezed as much excess water as she could. She opened the foggy, glass door to reach for the towel hanging nearby when she saw the tall, imposing figure of her captor.

Carolina gasped as she jumped back. She thought she might see Loki at breakfast, but there he was standing in front of her, fully clothed in black, green, and gold, looking down at her intensely, while she stood in the shower wet and naked. "What are you doing here?!" she cried. She quickly crossed her arms around her chest and turned around into a corner to hide as much of herself as she could. She knew it was useless; her haven was now her cage.

She watched from over her shoulder as Loki stepped into the shower. It was an odd scene to witness: the powerful being in his peculiar clothing, seemingly from another time, standing in a modern bathroom shower. He was directly behind her. "I need not explain myself, mortal," he seethed at her. He was angry. What could she have done since their last encounter to provoke his ire? "Turn around."

Carolina's body shook with sudden coldness as the heat precipitated from her skin. She could not bring herself to follow his order; she was too embarrassed and afraid. She suddenly felt a strong, stinging slap against one of her lower cheeks, and she cried out in pain.

"DO AS I SAY!" His yell echoed throughout the room, piercing Carolina's ears.

She cowered in her corner for a second, then she slowly turned around, trying not to slip on the wet surface. Her shoulders were tense, her head down, and her eyes shut. When Loki spoke again, his voice was lower but still threatening. "Never cover your body from me."

She knew that order would come. Her erratic breathing shook her body, but she lowered her arms to her sides, exposing her entire nude form to the dark prince.

Loki allowed himself to take in her curvaceous figure for a moment before concentrating on her face. He wondered why she was still closing her eyes. What good would that do her? He smirked inwardly before slapping the bottom cheek closest to him. "Look at me," he ordered.

Carolina opened her eyes and lifted her head to look upon the enraged god. She felt tears forming in her eyes, but she kept them under control, awaiting his next move. Did he want her again so soon? Once more she wondered if she could have somehow provoked his temper.

Loki grabbed her chin to retain her gaze, "Did you think that due to our coupling last night I would overlook your previous transgression?" For a moment Carolina was confused. Then she realized he was talking about her attempted escape. She thought they already addressed that the night before. "Last night served to satisfy my needs. Do not think your crime will go unpunished." Carolina's eyes widened in horror. Punishment? What kind of punishment? The hand on her chin lowered and his fingers wrapped around her neck; she instinctively grabbed the hand. His grip was loose, but firm. "Do you realize how easily I could snap your neck, you weak mortal?"

Carolina felt her tears fall freely down her cheeks. Suddenly she felt Loki twist one of her nipples painfully with his other hand. She cried out and responded, "Yes, sir." She felt another twist of her nipple. "Ahh! Yes, my lord," she corrected herself. "Please don't kill me," she pleaded. She didn't want to die. She had gone through so much sadness and pain in her life, and she was just beginning to discover that she didn't have to live that way. She felt reborn, and he was threatening to take that away.

"I should kill you," he sneered at her pleading expression. He reveled in the fear she was eliciting, and he knew his message was being received. But he still wanted to play. "I'm told it is a natural human instinct to flee when one feels in danger." He didn't admit this was not an uncommon Asgardian reaction as well, "How can I be sure you won't do it again, I wonder?"

As if on cue, his little human sang the expected tune, "I won't, my lord. I promise I won't!"

"Hmm," he faked thoughtful consideration, "How can I believe you? I can't have you presuming I would forgive further offenses. You must be punished."

Again he mentioned punishment. Carolina had endured beatings before, as well as agonizing physical and mental pain. But she survived. If this god didn't actually try to kill her, then she would survive again.

She took a moment to close her eyes and take a deep breath. She opened them again and tried to calm her breathing. She looked into Loki's eyes, resolved in her decision. "Then do it. Punish me, my lord." She removed her hands from the hand he had around her neck, and calmly lowered them to her sides.

Loki dropped his hand from her neck and stepped back in awe. He had expected the woman to accept her punishment, but he did not expect her to accept it with such dignity. In fact, he hoped to leave her with no dignity at all. He did not allow himself to show his surprise. He merely smiled and told her to turn around and to place her palms on the wall in front of her. She took a deep breath and did as he instructed. He leaned forward and spoke into her ear. "You should thank me for administering this discipline instead of killing you…"

He didn't expect to hear her calmly reply, "Thank you, my lord, for deciding to punish me instead of killing me."

His smile was his only acknowledgement of her response. He continued to give his instructions. "I will strike your luscious backside ten times. You will count each strike aloud, then thank me for giving it to you. Do you understand?" He saw her nod. "Good. Now spread your legs shoulder-width apart." As soon as she complied he slapped a cheek with his palm.

Carolina cried out feeling the stinging pain then said, "One. Thank you, my lord." She had never been slapped on her backside before. She was used to slaps and blows to her face, kicks and punches to her stomach, twists of her arms, but she'd never been abused on her bottom before. It felt strange. Even the pain felt different. It stung, but the feeling was isolated to the spot he hit. She felt another slap on her other cheek. "Two," she cried, "Thank you, my lord."

Loki tried not to hit the same spot twice, but it was inevitable. It was just as well. She needed to remember the pain whenever she dared to think about crossing him again. He relished in every cry he evoked from her lips, like a musician performing a masterpiece. Not only did her musical cries sound like those of fierce lovemaking, but they were also making his member grow hard in his trousers. He breathed deeply as he struck her again.

"Five. Thank you, my lord."

He pretended she was crying out in erotic passion. Perhaps she was. He smelled a hint of her arousal since the first slap, when he bade her to turn around. His next slap landed directly between her legs. He was pleased to feel it wet with her juices.

"Ah! Six. Thank you, my lord."

That was a different sound. Was his little Carolina enjoying her punishment? How deliciously promising… He rubbed the material in front of his twitching cock while he continued to spank her, letting a couple more strikes stray to her dripping core. Finally he let the last one linger on her cheek.

"Ten. Thank you, my lord." Carolina drew out a long breath. She leaned her head forward against the wall and tried to control her breathing and her tears. It was over. It hurt, but she had suffered far worse before.

Loki grabbed her shoulder and turned her around to face him. Her face was red from her irregular breathing and full of tears. She looked exquisite. "Have you anything to say?"

Carolina wasn't sure what he wanted to hear, so she tried to cover everything. "Thank you for my punishment, my lord. You could have killed me, but you were merciful enough to spare my life." New tears formed as she realized the truth in her words, "I will never try to run away again."

"I'm glad to hear it, my pet." He enjoyed the defeated sound of her voice. She was learning. What a good little human. He reached down between her legs and slid a finger along her sex. He held the finger up to show the result of her punishment. He saw her close her eyes and lower her head in shame.

She knew her body was reacting against her will, but she had been focusing on getting through the pain and telling Loki what he wanted to hear. She didn't have enough energy to try to keep her arousal from manifesting. She had never been turned on by abuse before. She knew there were people who did, and she had been certain that she wasn't one of them. After all, she endured years of violence and never once enjoyed it. How was this different?

"Well, you've received your punishment swimmingly, my dear," his hands started undoing his trousers, "Now it's time for my reward for not snapping your little neck." As soon as his trousers fell to the ground, he pushed Carolina against the wall.

She cried out in pain as her sore backside hit the cool shower wall and the hands that had caused the inevitable redness on her cheeks pulled her up. He lowered her on his ready and waiting shaft, and she instinctively wrapped her legs around him to steady herself.

"Don't get overly comfortable, pet," he told her, "This won't take long." He began thrusting up into her and bringing her hips down to meet his. He watched as her breasts bounced in front of him; he wanted to put one in his mouth, but he had to keep this brief. He cherished her wayward moans and the way she gripped his arms. She was unguarded, wild. He didn't plan on letting her reach her completion, but he enjoyed her cries of passion far too much to deprive himself of it, so he reached between them to find her sensitive spot. Shortly afterwards Carolina screamed her satisfaction, and Loki followed moments later. He reluctantly withdrew from her and lowered her to her feet instead of enjoying the afterglow of their mating. "Go downstairs and break your fast, Carolina. There is much to do before we leave for your homeland today."


	8. Chapter 8: The Day Before Tomorrow

**Chapter 8: The Day Before Tomorrow**

After cleansing herself again from her most recent encounter with Loki, Carolina stepped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around herself, and headed to the bedroom. The bed had been completely made and her waitress uniform was nowhere to be found. Instead, there was a beautiful, dark green dress with gold-colored trimmings and belt lying on the bed next to a pair of black, flat dress shoes. Green wasn't really one of her colors, but she didn't care what she looked like in it. If the dress was "pleasing to the king's eyes," then nothing else mattered.

After half-an-hour, Carolina looked at her reflection in the floor-length mirror in the corner of the room. She felt like she was eight years old again and her parents were taking her to Easter Mass. Her brown hair was brushed out and dry, revealing her wavy hair and low-hanging curls. She wanted to pull her hair back, but she couldn't find anything to contain it. The dress had small, short sleeves, and the skirts flowed down to her mid-calf. She had to admit the color didn't look terrible on her.

She walked over to the double-doors and stood in front of them for a bit. She didn't want the agents on the other side to tackle her if she opened the door. Should she knock? Taking a deep breath she called out, "I'm supposed to go downstairs." She stepped back as the doors slowly opened toward her, one agent holding a separate doorknob. They didn't look at her suspiciously or warily; they really didn't look at her at all. They held out the doors for her as if she were an important political or royal figure; it was strange.

"Miss," spoke one of the agents formally, "We'll escort you downstairs."

"Oh-kay," said Carolina as she stepped out of the room and waited. The agents closed the doors and the one who spoke led her through the hall with the second agent following behind.

The dining room wasn't as grand as she expected it to be in such a massive home. The mansion could host a banquet or a ball from the size of it. Instead there was a small table for six in the middle of the room. It must have been where intimate family dinners took place when the owners weren't entertaining. There was a setting to the left of where the head of the table would be. The first guard walked over to the chair in front of the setting and held it out for Carolina. She nervously walked over to sit down. "Thanks," was her automatic response. She gasped in pain when she sat down, as her bottom still stung from the morning's punishment.

The agent didn't seem to notice; he nodded and he and his partner walked outside the room and stood watch at the entrance. Carolina was glad to be left alone. She didn't need strangers watching her eat. She was actually surprised Loki wasn't going to join her, but she was relieved just the same. Perhaps their encounters would be limited to the bedroom. Even if that in itself wasn't a pleasant thought, she decided the less she saw of him the better.

A woman came in through a swinging door carrying plates of food. She set down plates of bread with an array of spreads and cheeses. The woman went back in through the door, which must have led to the kitchen, and returned with a plate of fried eggs and sausage, and a glass of orange juice. The woman stood back, placed her hands in front of her and spoke. She was asking something in German.

Carolina had to think for a moment. The woman must normally work for Frau Huber, but the glow in her eyes indicated she took orders from Loki now. She quickly deciphered that the woman was asking her if she preferred anything else to drink like coffee. "No, thank you," she responded in her weak German. The woman asked if there was anything else she required. Again, Carolina told her, "No, thank you." The woman asked her to let her know if there was anything else she might need, nodded, walked over and stood next to the entrance to the kitchen, ready should Carolina request anything. Clearly, Carolina was going to have an audience while she ate after all.

Carolina was hungry, but she felt strange eating in such an extravagant place with someone waiting on her. She forced herself to eat. Who knew when she would have the opportunity to next?

The food was delicious. It tasted better than similar food restaurants served. She was finishing her meal when she heard two familiar voices coming from the hall.

Xxx

"You're still unable to find her?" Loki asked his second-in-command. That was disappointing. He was hoping to use Jane Foster to control Thor. To make him squirm and suffer a bit, to keep him from pursuing Loki and the tesseract. Maybe even use him as a spy if he chose to join Fury's team of misfits.

"No, sir," responded Barton. "It's very likely SHIELD is hiding her. It's a very predictable move on their part. They would have done it shortly after your arrival to keep you from getting to her."

They kept walking down the hall of the mansion. "Is she very essential in executing the doctor's plans?"

"Dr. Selvig says it would be very helpful to have her on either projects, but no. Not essential. He can handle it on his own."

Loki sighed in reluctant acceptance. "Very well then. Have men keep watch for her, but don't waste precious time and resources locating her. Thor has proven to be unpredictable when he's emotional. Who knows how he would react if he knew I had his precious Jane?"

Loki stopped walking as he saw Carolina's guards outside the dining room; they saluted as they saw him approaching. "Make sure the teams are ready to leave on my command," he told Barton before entering the dining room.

Carolina was already looking toward the entrance as he walked in. The servant by the kitchen curtsied at his arrival, and she promptly left when he told her to leave. His Carolina looked stunned by his sudden appearance as she nervously stood from her seat and bowed her head, her hands in front of her. She looked beautiful in the dress she wore. In the morning, he had instructed the woman of the house to find a dress in his colors that was modest, but would highlight her features: her waist, her bust, her curves… The woman chose well.

He walked over to Carolina and briefly recalled their encounter that morning. He ceased his thoughts before he began something he had no time for. Instead, he admired her lovely hair as it fell beside her in it's beautiful waves and curls. He decided he preferred her hair loose. "Sit, my lovely 'Lina," he purred next to her ear. Her eyes flew to him in response to his nickname for her. He walked behind the chair to assist her, and he noticed she winced as she sat down.

"I hope you aren't terribly uncomfortable," he lied as he took his place at the head of the table, "But let your pain serve as a reminder to not severely disappoint me again. I assure you your punishment for any future transgressions will be less pleasant."

Loki didn't miss her blush as she sat with her hands in her lap, her head still down. "Yes, my lord," she responded quietly. He was pleased to see she was learning her place. She looked every bit the part of a submissive woman, which was why he was surprised to hear her ask, "Are you planning to kidnap another woman?" She slowly lifted her head and looked at him. She didn't seem angry. Just curious.

Loki realized she must have heard a part of his conversation with Barton. The matter was none of her concern, but he wanted to see how she would react if she thought she had competition for his…affections. "Are you jealous?" he smiled playfully.

"No," she said simply. "I was just wondering if you were building a harem or if you found a suitable replacement."

His hand on the table turned into a fist. As a youth he would have loved the idea of a harem, but for some reason, thinking of his little 'Lina as a whore disturbed him deeply. It must have been because she would be the mother of his heir. Then she spoke of being replaced again. Of leaving. And it enraged him. He told himself it was because the matter had been settled, and she was being insolent by bringing it up. He didn't like his subordinates disobeying him.

He took a deep breath to calm himself before saying, "Neither." He was glad his voice didn't reflect his annoyance. He decided to change the subject. "You look lovely in your dress." He thought about how true his statement was, and he felt himself relax.

Carolina also noticed his calming demeanor and said, "Thank you, my lord. But I'm not really used to wearing dresses." She wasn't complaining, but he could tell she wasn't fond of wearing them.

"You will grow accustomed to them," he dismissed her statement with a wave of his hand. "I prefer you dress as a woman, not a man…"

"I haven't seen Frau Huber wear any dresses…"

"Who?"

Carolina looked at Loki shocked and a little angry. "Frau Huber," she repeated slowly and deliberately. When he didn't seem to know who she was talking about she explained further, "The woman whose house you took." Her hands balled into fists under the table. The man took the woman's house, staff, freewill, and who-knew-what-else, and he didn't even know her name? She would have punched him if she thought she could get away with it.

"Oh," Loki pretended not to notice Carolina's annoyance and said, "I do not bed Frau Huber." He saw her turn her attention back to her hands in her lap. "Besides, dresses are more practical when I have sudden…need of you." He left his reason linger in the air, and he saw her shift in her seat. She was uncomfortable, and he longed to make her more uneasy. He repressed the sudden urge to take her then and there. He had to leave. Now.

"I'm glad you found your meal satisfactory," he indicated her near empty plate, but he really didn't care. "Your dear Frau Huber should be in your room. You will head upstairs and meet with her." He stood up and she immediately did the same. "You will leave in an hour's time. When next we meet, we will be in your native land." He grabbed her arms and brought her in a long, passionate kiss, surprising her. He reluctantly pulled away, gave her one last look, and walked out. He missed her perplex look at his sudden and hasty departure.

Xxx

Carolina had so much information to absorb as she was escorted back to her bedroom. She was going back home. A part of her was excited to be going back, but she felt she was leaving so much behind: her cute little flat, the job that she loved and was learning so much from, and the coworkers she was allowing herself to finally become friends with. She was making _friends_. She hadn't had a friend in a long time. There were also so many places in Germany she wanted to see. Places she learned about while studying the German language and culture during her time there. She wasn't done with Stuttgart yet. She wasn't done with Germany yet.

When Carolina and her escorts reached the bedroom, she saw Frau Huber and a few other ladies inside scurrying about. When Frau Huber saw Carolina she smiled and motioned for the young woman to enter the room. "Come, come, my dear," she said. "We must decide what you will take."

Carolina hurried in and the doors closed behind her. A couple of ladies were going through some clothes on the bed and opening a couple of suitcases. She was completely overwhelmed by all the activity. Frau Huber took her hand and led her to the closet where there were even more clothing-mostly new. She was asked to stand in front of the large, floor-length mirror and undress. She looked at Frau Huber who held a green and yellow dress in her hands. Though the older woman looked to be in a hurry, she was as patient as ever. For some reason she trusted the older woman, so she took her dress off and stayed in her thin dress slip.

For nearly an hour Carolina tried on dresses for all sorts of occasions, but they were mostly everyday dresses. She didn't care which dresses were chosen; if Frau Huber approved, then she agreed with her choice. She also tried on different pairs of shoes. She was glad that not all of them were dress shoes. If the shoes didn't immediately hurt her feet, then she agreed to them. She was glad to see that most of the intimate apparel purchased were the same brand and style she was currently wearing, though she tried not to think about how anyone found out her preference.

When it looked like they were done having her try on all the clothes, she finally said, "I don't mean to seem ungrateful, Frau Huber, but I don't understand the meaning of all of this. I can buy clothes in the U.S."

Frau Huber's smile faded. "Oh, child," She took the young woman's hand and said in a serious tone, "Tomorrow the world will be a very different place. Especially where you are going. The king would like for you to have all you need during the…transitional period."

Carolina felt as if the words were a punch in the gut. Loki kept saying he was going to take over Earth. To be its king. Yes, she saw that he possessed power no human could possess, but she told herself he _couldn't_ take over the Earth. It was impossible. But it looked like he was going to try, and it would cause death and devastation. And it would begin in the United States.

No, she told herself. He would fail. He _had_ to fail. The government would retaliate and the military would defeat him. She hoped she wouldn't get caught in the crossfire when they did, but she tried not to think about that.

"Where will you be?" she asked Frau Huber anxiously. She came to care for the maternal woman in the short time she knew her. She hoped she and her husband would be safe.

"I will be here, child. Ready to serve the king when he needs me." Frau Huber patted the hand she held in her hands.

Carolina nodded gratefully, but she was still troubled. She looked into the older woman's eyes and confided, "I'm scared."

"No, child!" the woman gave her a reassuring hug. Carolina felt herself relax in the woman's arms. "There is no need to be afraid," she rubbed the younger woman's back, "The king is very capable. He will be fine." Frau Huber pulled away and looked at the young woman. "He will be just fine."

If the older woman noticed Carolina's face was full of sadness and disappointment, she didn't acknowledge it in any way. The young woman scolded herself. Did she honestly expect one of Loki's "followers" to sympathize with her plight?

"Come now," said Frau Huber. "It is time for you to leave."

Carolina allowed the woman to lead her away.

**A/N: In case anybody cares, the first two places of "concentrated power" Thor's hammer took him to in Chapter 6: Seeking Jane Foster were (1) Stonehenge, and (2) Bethesda Terrace/Fountain (That's where Thor and Loki left from at the end of The Avengers).**


	9. Chapter 9: Helicarrier Attack: Aftermath

**A/N: I don't mean for the title of this chapter to be misleading, but I won't be describing the actual Helicarrier attack. Remember how I mentioned that I completely mess with the events in the movie? Well, this chapter is a good example of that. **

**Chapter 9: Helicarrier Attack and Aftermath**

Agent Natasha Romanoff tried her best to dodge the attacks of who Bruce Banner called "The Other Guy." The Helicarrier was under attack and the agent suddenly found herself face-to-face with the doctor's green and very angry alter ego. Due to her acrobatic-like evasive maneuvering skills, she was still alive. But she was growing tired; her body had been running on pure adrenaline, which was quickly running out.

She tried to recall the protocol for this particular scenario. SHIELD had only come up with a couple of strategies to, not neutralize, but eject the Hulk from the Helicarrier should he make an appearance. She could either get him to the prison they made for him on the upper level or get him near an open window where fighter pilots could distract him. She decided getting him upstairs would cause more destruction and harm than trying to get him to one of the many large windows nearby. She sprinted across the underground, and when she passed the docking bay she pushed the button to the intercom in her ear yelling the location she intended to lure the Hulk.

She heard the massive green creature running and yelling not too far behind her, smashing concrete and leaving large debris in his wake. She arrived at her destination, but she didn't see any of the fighter jets outside the windows. Cursing her luck, she looked around at the crates and boxes around her. There had to be a weapon that could keep him from advancing her until the pilot arrived. She came across a flamethrower when the Hulk caught up to her. Out of more safe and practical options, she immediately switched on the apparatus and shot sporadic flames at the beast. He cried out annoyed, rather than in pain, stomped his way over to her, and knocked the weapon from her hands.

Suddenly disarmed, Natasha started to back away. Several yards behind the Hulk, she finally saw the fighter jet arrive outside a nearby window. She rolled away from her assailant just in time for a round of bullets to hit the monster's back. She was hiding behind some crates when she heard a piercing cry that echoed the lower level, and then heard massive footsteps run toward the now broken window.

She was alone. Though the Helicarrier was still under attack, she couldn't find the strength or the nerve to get up from her huddled position in a corner. She was lucky. Yes, her skills played a part in her survival, but a lot of it was pure, dumb luck. If the Hulk had done more than push her she would be unconscious or dead. She just rocked back and forth as she held her knees to her chest, the imagines of the past few minutes flashing in her mind, but with alternative scenarios where she ended up dead.

After a minute of trying to compose herself, the buzzing in her earpiece became clear as she made out voices of agents calling for help or Director Fury issuing orders.

"We need to get the Helicarrier on the water!" cried Fury. "These engines are going down fast!"

"Director Fury," she heard Agent Coulson's familiar voice, "We're losing outside communication…"

"I need a medic! I have men down!" "Another engine down. Stark can't fix it!" "Where are we on getting this bird on the water?!" "The scepter's missing! Repeat. The scepter is missing!"

"Sir," came a voice much clearer than the others and much closer. The speaker was in the room. Natasha recognized the voice, but she was told the agent had been compromised along with Clint. She stayed in her spot, trying to still her breathing.

"What?!" responded an exasperated voice. It was Loki's voice. She had only heard it once before, but she recognized it.

"It's Agent Barton. He says it's important," said the first voice.

Clint! She wondered if he was nearby. Her body stopped shaking as her new objective became clear: She would find out where Clint was, kick his ass, and tie him up until she found out how to undo Loki's hold on him.

She heard Loki's voice again. "What is it, Barton?" She didn't hear a response. She heard a distant, muffled sound…as if coming from a cell phone or other communication device. "A what…? Gas leak?...Damn it!" She heard Loki groan. He wasn't getting good news. There was no sound for a while; she assumed Loki was thinking of a solution. "Very well. Take her to Stark Tower, but make sure it is properly secured!"

Natasha closed her eyes. Clint wasn't onboard. She would have to find another way to get to him. Loki told him to take someone to Stark Tower. Of course! That would be the perfect place for Loki to use the tesseract to open the portal to space.

She suddenly heard footsteps retreating. She slowly stood from her spot to follow Loki, but he was nowhere to be found. She snuck over to a nearby doorway, but she saw no sign of either him or his agent in the corridor. Where the hell did they go?

Xxx

Carolina stood on the airport tarmac between two guards as agents hurriedly transferred suitcases, crates, and other assorted boxes from the private jet to black SUVs. She finally got to stretch after the hours-long flight from Germany. Strangely enough, the flight hadn't been as long as she thought it would have been. Apparently Loki had access to a high-end super-powered private jet.

Carolina sighed as she absorbed the afternoon sunlight. She was home. Well, she was in New York City, which was still pretty far from California, but she was back in the United States. It was odd, but she already missed Germany. Had Germany become her new home, but she just hadn't realized it? Did she even have a home anymore?

Carolina looked around at her surroundings. She had never been to New York before. It was one of the places she wanted to visit, but she didn't want to be there at the moment. Not under the current circumstances. Frau Huber's statement rang in her mind. _Tomorrow, the world will be a very different place_.

Barton's voice caught her attention. He looked agitated. She was surprised to see any kind of emotion cross his features at all. Another agent gave Barton something that looked like a cell phone, and he spoke into it. "I need to speak to the king. It's important." Just the mention of Loki tensed Carolina's shoulders. "Sir, we have a situation. I've just been informed that there is a gas leak at the safe house. ..A gas leak, sir…It's too dangerous for her there…" Barton stood silent as he seemed to be waiting for instructions. "Stark Tower. Roger that, sir." He handed the communication device to an agent, then turned to Carolina and her guards. "We're taking her to Stark Tower."

The two agents immediately grabbed her upper arms and lead her to the inside of one of the SUVs while Barton began barking orders to the scurrying agents. "You three: find an appropriate safe house and get back to me. Make sure it's a good one…You, find out where Selvig is with the portal device as well as the second device…I need twelve agents to meet us at Stark Tower. Make sure to load the cars up with as many weapons and ammo as you can. This is war, guys..."

Carolina chose not to listen to anything after that. She preferred to stay in denial, but that was getting more difficult with each passing minute. All the doors to the SUV slammed shut, and they were off to Stark Tower. She wondered if the building belonged to _the_ Tony Stark. Had Loki possessed him too and was utilizing Stark's property as he had done with Frau Huber? As she pondered on that possibility a realization hit her. The man in the red and yellow metal suit who took Loki away in Stuttgart… The was Stark's Iron Man suit! Tony Stark had been in Germany trying to stop Loki.

Hope grew in her chest. Tony Stark had a notoriously huge ego that rivaled fellow billionaire, Donald Trump. But for all his narcissism, his disregard and insolence at the Senate hearing the year before, and his overt womanizing, Stark had a good heart…that glowed for some reason. It was rumored that he fought terrorists, men with suits of technology similar to his own, and even hoards of Iron Man drones. If anybody could stop Loki, it would be Tony Stark.

Carolina tried to hide a smile. Her denial was on full force, and she was okay with that.

Xxx

Nick Fury, Director of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, stood at his commanding post on the bridge of the Helicarrier. By some miracle, his pilots were able to land the massive air craft carrier somewhat smoothly onto the Atlantic Ocean. A few of the jets and helicopters on the landing strip were still somewhat operational. The power inside the carrier, however, was dwindling. He addressed his tired and bloodied agents to assess the damage so far.

"Hill, how many dead and wounded?"

Agent Maria Hill, his second-in-command, tried to keep any emotion out of her response. "Twelve confirmed dead and at least twenty wounded. The medical teams are working their asses off with the power and equipment they've got."

"Which brings me to my next question. Coulson," the Director turned to one of his top agents, "Where are we on power and communication?" At that moment, the remaining lights that were still on flickered before shutting completely off. The backup hazard lights turned on, giving the crew some visibility.

Agent Phil Coulson looked around the slightly-lit bridge and said, "Communication is zero, and Stark was using any left-over power to repair the damage to his suit…"

"Let him," Agent Romanoff's voice echoed as she entered the bridge. She walked over to the group of higher-ranking agents. "I overheard Loki sending Barton to Stark Tower."

Coulson, Fury, and Hill all spoke at once. "Barton was here?" "Stark Tower?" "Of course!"

"Barton wasn't onboard," Romanoff told the group, "Loki received a call from him. Something about a gas leak somewhere. Loki told Barton to take someone to Stark Tower. I'm guessing that's where he plans on using the tesseract to unleash his army."

"And he'll have a world-wide audience to see him do it." Stark joined the group followed by Captain Rogers. Stark turned to Romanoff, studying her disheveled appearance. "You look good for someone who just battled a nine-foot raging monster."

Romanoff, still a bit shaken from her encounter with the Hulk, changed the subject. "How's your suit?"

Stark let out an audible sigh. "It's probably got enough juice to get me to Manhattan before it completely falls apart. I've got more suits at my place, but if the Prince of Darkness is going to be there…"

"You said Barton was taking someone there," Rogers said to Romanoff. "Any chance it's the woman he took from Stuttgart?"

"Loki did say to take 'her' to Stark Tower," answered Romanoff. "Why?"

"She's a hostage. Loki could threaten to harm her…"

"I'm sorry, Captain," interrupted Fury. "We don't negotiate with terrorists. Even if she _is_ alive, saving her is not a priority."

Rogers looked at Fury incredulously. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He lowered his voice so as not to appear to be arguing with the Director, whom he highly respected despite having just learned the man was having tesseract-powered weapons of mass-destruction built. "You know what the witnesses in Stuttgart said he planned to do with her. We can't just abandon her."

"I sympathize with her, Captain. We all do. But our priority is to stop Loki from bringing forth his army, regain possession of the tesseract, and to capture or kill the criminal himself. If there is a chance to save the young woman then, of course, we will."

The Director was very firm in his orders, but the Captain wasn't happy about it. Rogers looked around the small group for support, but some chose that moment to focus on something else in the room while others gave him a sympathetic look or shrug. Agent Hill just looked at him with her arms crossed, in complete agreement with the Director.

"We need to get the team together, Director," Coulson said to Fury urgently.

"Team? We aren't a _team_, Phil." Stark interjected.

"You're damn right, we're not." Rogers said as he glared at Stark. He and Stark were barely able to fix one of the engines before it fell apart again. They would have been more successful if they hadn't been bickering over which engine needed their attention the most.

Fury hated to agree with Stark and Rogers. "We don't know where Thor is, and Banner…"

"With all due respect, Director," interrupted Rogers, "I don't think we need the doctor now that we know where the tesseract is."

"There's more to Banner than that, Rogers," argued Stark, uncharacteristically loyal to the only person he found interesting since stepping foot on the ship.

"Yeah," chimed in Romanoff, "And we saw how great that turned out." She felt bad for Banner and his…issues, but she had to admit they were better off with him wherever he was now instead of in battle.

"Thor's in New Mexico," Coulson managed to get in. When Fury turned to him questioningly, he explained, "I was informed just before the attack. We just need to get word to him…"

"But we can't," explained Hill. "Our communications are nonexistent."

"Even if he were here, I don't know what you expect would happen." Stark told Coulson. "We're not the Power Rangers. We're not going to wear matching outfits and defeat the forces of evil." Stark liked him, but Coulson was dreaming if he thought they would all hold hands and play together. "I'll tell you what _I'm_ going to do," he told the group, "I'm going to go to _my_ penthouse, get another one of _my_ suits, and kick Loki out of _my_ home. I'll bring you his head before dinnertime."

"Always about you, isn't it, Stark?" challenged Rogers. "You haven't fought against tesseract-powered weapons before. I have. If they're anything like HYDRA weapons, they'll incinerate your entire body in half-a-second. There'll be no evidence you were even there."

"Don't be so overdramatic, Captain. I held my own against Blondie and his muscles and lightening; I think I can handle his little brother and his pretty glow stick."

"Never underestimate the little guy, Stark," Rogers warned, as a former little guy himself.

"I'll tell you what, Cap. I'll bring him over here, and you guys can start a club." With that, Stark stormed out of the bridge.

Rogers realized his hands had balled into fists during his exchange with Stark. He let out a deep breath as he relaxed his hands. He addressed the rest of the group. "I'm not leaving it up to him. I'm going. If anyone wants to join me, I'll be up on deck finding a ride."

"Hill, Coulson: I need you here," Fury told his top agents. He raised his voice so everyone on the bridge could hear him. "Anyone else is welcome to go if they can find a chopper that still works."

A few agents followed after the Captain. Romanoff hesitated. She wasn't a soldier; she was a spy. But Loki still had Clint. If there was a way she could get him back, she would try. She told herself it was because she owed her partner a debt, and she still had red on her ledger she wanted to wipe out.

Xxx

Carolina stood alone in the middle of the penthouse suite on the top floor of Stark Tower. Barton was in one of the rooms making phone calls and doing god-knew-what-else. The suite was huge with all the comforts and gadgets one could hope for. There were stairs that led to an upper level, which in turn led to a balcony, while the lower level had a balcony all its own. There was a bar, a sitting area, some kind of study… Tony Stark had spared no expense on his Manhattan residence.

Through one of the massive wall-sized windows, Carolina saw a middle-aged man in a white lab coat along with several of Loki's agents on the lower-level balcony outside. They were building some sort of tall, metallic structure with wires and cords running along its base. There appeared to be a laptop on top of a stand a few feet away from it, connected to it. Within the structure itself, she saw a small cube that looked like it could barely fit in someone's hand. The cube elicited the same blue color as the crystal on Loki's scepter and the blue she saw in the eyes of the people he possessed. It couldn't have been a coincidence.

Carolina walked over to the large window and placed her hands on the glass. "What are you doing?" she wondered aloud.

"Ensuring my victory," said a voice next to her ear.

**A/N: I know Hawkeye played an essential role in the attack, but I had to keep him away from Black Widow. (You know she wouldn't give up until she had him back, and I just can't have her messing up my plans). Just pretend Loki found another capable agent to help him during the attack. **

**Let's play a game: Can you mention all the events that happened during the Helicarrier Attack in the movie that don't happen in this story? (Yes, this is my shameless way of asking you to leave a review. Big thanks to those who already do!)**

**Also, I hope my big group scene wasn't too confusing. I actually had a lot of fun writing it.**


	10. Chapter 10: Stark Tower

**Chapter 10: Stark Tower**

Carolina walked over to the large window and placed her hands on the glass. "What are you doing?" she wondered aloud.

"Ensuring my victory," said a voice next to her ear.

Carolina gasped as she faced her stealthy captor. He smiled down at her, amused by how easily she was caught off guard. Carolina took a few steps back to increase the distance between them. She lowered her head and folded her hands in front of her, the submissive position she was growing accustomed to adopting.

She felt his eyes on her. Watching her. He didn't move or say anything, so she stayed still. Silent. She became uncomfortable. She didn't like being the center of attention, and the awkward stillness was killing her.

Slowly, Carolina placed a hand against the glass wall and observed the goings on outside. She chose to avoid looking into Loki's hypnotic eyes. "How?" she asked, apprehensively. She wasn't sure she really wanted to know how the complex machine outside was going to aid him in his "victory."

He walked over to her and stood behind her placing his hands on her shoulders, ensuring her containment. Her breath hitched at his proximity. He was so close to her, touching her, and she couldn't see him. She couldn't anticipate what he would do next and it terrified her, but it also made her body react in a way she tried desperately to ignore.

"Do you see that cube?" he breathed against her ear. "That is the tesseract. It contains unlimited energy and power." He spoke calmly and softly as if giving a lesson. "It will be connected to the device the good doctor and his helpers are building. The device will harness the power of the tesseract and open a portal into space. From there, my awaiting army will enter this world and defeat my enemies, thus winning me the Earth."

Carolina watched as the men outside seemed to be finishing their task. That _thing_ they were building was going to bring in an army from outer space? It sounded ridiculous. It sounded insane. But she believed him. She had seen the resources and power he had. She saw firsthand his need to be revered, to rule, to have complete control. She could tell he had an intellectual and strategic mind; she had no doubt he could cause complete chaos and devastation to fulfill his selfish needs.

Carolina held her breath as she turned to face him. He claimed to be something other than human, but did that mean he lacked humanity and compassion? The reasonable part of her already knew the answer; the stubborn part of her wouldn't give up. "Please don't do this," she pleaded as her voice shook, "The people of this city have been through enough. We all have. Please don't make us suffer another catastrophe. Don't let innocent people die."

Loki sighed as he looked down at her and stroked her cheek. She flinched at the sudden contact, but he didn't seem to notice. She was so young, he thought. He regarded her as a child who was just learning about the harsh realities of life. "There are casualties in war."

"_You_ are starting the war," she raised her voice, hoping he would hear her words, "You don't have to."

"Yes, I do!" he shouted as he suddenly turned away from her. He ran his hand through his hair frustrated. The young Midgardian didn't understand. He reminded himself that she needn't understand his intentions or reasoning. She was beneath him and he didn't need to explain himself to her. Yet, he found himself doing so. He paced a bit before he faced her again. "Your people kill each other over the most frivolous reasons: faith, race, freedom, equality, ideas of government, your presumptuous 'God-given' rights… I mean to end all that. One law under one rule. A war to end all wars."

Carolina winced at the familiar phrase. Did he know nothing of human history? "That doesn't work," she explained softly, her voice becoming more steady. "There is no such thing."

Loki would not hear it. He was different. Better. He was a god. "This world will excel under my rule. You will see." His breathing was becoming short with frustration. By the end of the day, she would see.

"You don't understand," she calmly tried to explain to the pacing figure before her. "You will lose. But a lot of people will die before you do."

Suddenly, he grabbed her arms and shouted, "I WILL NOT FAIL!"

Carolina trembled as her heart raced. He was furious. His nostrils were flaring, and for a split second, she thought she saw his green eyes flash light blue. She took a moment to recover from his mad outburst and willed her voice to calmly say, "You will. Men like you always do."

Loki clenched his teeth and firmed his grip on her arms. How dare she compare him to the low creatures of this realm? To question his superiority? "There are no men like me," he barely managed to say without shouting.

"That's what I'm trying to say," she said sadly. Although she was still uncomfortable being so close to him and touching him, she slowly placed her hands on his shoulders. She looked at him intently, pleading, hoping he would understand what she was trying to tell him. "There are _always_ men like you."

Loki looked at her for a moment and then down at her hands as they grasped him with a familiarity he had not expected from her. He growled as he pushed away from her. "Barton!"

Carolina's attention turned to a door at the back of the suite. She watched as Barton came from the room and marched over to the pair. She heard Loki's voice behind her say, "Take her away." She quickly turned and saw that Loki was now dressed in his full armor with his scepter in hand. Just as he had in Stuttgart. She stared at him dumbly. He was preparing for war.

"Yes, sir." Barton took Carolina's arm and began to lead her to the room he just came from.

Carolina panicked as she realized their discussion had ended. But he hadn't agreed to stop the massacre. People were going to die. "No!" she cried as she pulled her arm away from Barton and ran to Loki, stilling his pacing. "Please don't do this. You can't enslave the entire human race!"

Loki looked down at her, his anger still present. "Why not?" he challenged.

Carolina was at a loss. Was that an actual question? She couldn't believe she was trying to convince anyone, let alone an alien god, that killing and subjugating others was a bad thing. He wasn't getting it. She didn't know what else to do, so she said the next thing that came to mind. "I'll do anything," she begged as her eyes filled with tears. As soon as she said the words she knew it was useless, because his next words mirrored her thoughts.

"What could you possibly offer me? All that you have is already mine." Loki took a step closer to her. He sighed as he allowed his voice to soften slightly. "Though I've enjoyed our last few encounters, know this: my lust for your body is not as great as my lust for power and supreme rule."

A single tear fell from her cheek. "Please don't destroy my world," she whispered desperately.

Before Loki could stop himself, he touched her cheek and wiped away the tear that had fallen. He rubbed his thumb and index finger together, feeling the moisture between them.

What was he doing? Why was she still in the room? He was done. He let this carry on longer than he should have. He beckoned Barton to resume his task, then he turned around to watch Dr. Selvig and his men work on the device.

"No!" he heard Carolina scream as she was taken away by Barton. "No, please! Don't! Please don't do this!"

He heard the door close, but the shouting continued.

Xxx

Barton took Carolina into the master bedroom and closed the door behind them. He stood against the door, blocking Carolina from opening it. She still banged against the wall, shouting and pleading to Loki, "Please don't do this! Don't…!"

She backed away from the door. It was no use. Loki was insane. He thought he was doing good by trying to take over the planet. How could anyone argue with a madman with such a warped sense of logic? She looked up at Barton who was just looking straight ahead; a guard at his post. She went to stand directly in front of him and looked up at him.

"Barton," she strained to say against her looming tears. He looked down at her, acknowledging her. "You can stop him. Please. Talk to him." He sighed and looked ahead again, not wanting to have this conversation with her.

She knew it was a long-shot, but she had to try. "You're human too!" she desperately cried. "Those are our people!" she pointed out the massive window to the city of New York. "Human beings! Americans! They're going to die if no one stops him!" Barton kept his face as expressionless as ever.

"Barton!" she cried trying to get him to look at her again. She wished she knew his first name. She wished she knew what would reach him, to wake him from Loki's influence. She grabbed his arms, and she saw his hands twitch instinctively. It looked like he was going to attack her, but he didn't when he realized her movement was no threat to him. He merely looked down at her again, but he didn't say anything, so she kept talking. "When you wake up from the hold he has on you, you're going to regret you didn't do anything. You're going to hate yourself. You know this. The guilt will consume you. Save yourself that pain and stop him. Please." She shook him, "Please!"

She waited for his response. For him to say something. Anything. Something that would give her hope. Finally, he looked like he was going to say something, so she held her breath.

"This is going to happen. Be grateful you're on the winning side."

Carolina released his arms and stepped back, disheartened. She didn't say anything. She just kept looking at him with pleading eyes.

"Your orders are to stay in this room," he told her. "Don't leave unless instructed to do so by the king or myself. If you try to escape, he will kill you. If you successfully escape, he will find you and kill you and anyone he even _suspects_ might have helped you. Do you understand?"

Carolina nodded. She was numb. She failed to talk Loki down. It was arrogant for her to believe that she could in the first place. And the hold he had on Barton was too powerful for her to try to make him see reason. She felt sick to her stomach knowing that there were people just outside Stark Tower who were going to die, and they didn't even know it. They were helpless to stop it.

Her hand flew to her mouth; she felt nauseous. She saw Barton raise his arm and point behind her. "That one," he said. She turned around and ran to the door he pointed to, glad to see it led to a bathroom.

Xxx

Loki didn't know what to think of Carolina. Her tirade was over-emotional and annoying. She didn't understand that in order to make this wretched planet worthy of his rule, sacrifices would have to be made. Yes, people would die, but they were only human. There were over seven billion of them currently living there. What were a few thousand lives in service of his master plan?

What he couldn't stop thinking about was the passion in which she spoke. Carolina was an orphan, and the only remaining relatives she had were distant and unknown to her. Why did she care about the faceless people who would perish in his pursuit of a new and glorious Midgard? She didn't know them, she had no vested interest in their survival, there were no formal loyalties between her and the rest of the mortals; she hadn't even lived in the region they were currently occupying.

Her compassion perplexed him. Only days ago Carolina had bargained her freedom for the life of a stranger, yet minutes later voiced her regret on such a decision. Then she tried to convince him to allow her to fetch what she believed to be a suitable replacement. She was an odd woman. So very odd…

"My lord!" a faint, excited voice cried from the other side of the glass wall. It was Erik Selvig. The doctor's enthusiasm amused Loki as he knew it stemmed from his passion for his work. "The device is finished and ready to go! Shall I turn it on?"

Loki smiled knowing that the next phase of his plan was to begin. He gave the doctor the order to turn on the device and watched the middle-aged man run excitedly to the laptop, nearly jumping for joy, to execute his command. Within seconds, a giant beam of sea-blue light rose from the device and up through the Midgardian atmosphere. Soon his army would arrive.

Xxx

Bruce Banner woke up in a heap of concrete and rubble, pain searing down his back and the rest of his body, his head throbbing. He breathed through the pain, knowing it would soon subside. He looked up at the Hulk-sized hole in the ceiling of what looked like a warehouse. He groaned as he sat up, his Hulk-hangover ebbing away. The warehouse looked empty. He prayed it was.

Looking around the ground, he looked for the pair of pants the Other Guy no doubt had ripped and stretched. It had been over a year since he had to worry about storing an extra set of clothes nearby in case something like this happened. Not that there was a way to prepare for the reemergence of his other side. There was no way to know where Bruce Banner would wake up when the Hulk went to sleep. After his accident, he kept extra clothes in his home, his car, at work, at his girlfriend's place, anywhere he could think of. Now, the only extra clothes he had were in the Helicarrier…where he transformed and attacked Agent Romanoff. Bruce clutched his head trying to remember. Did he hurt her? He recalled an explosion and he and Natasha fell and they were trapped…Then he remembered a SHIELD jet…

Not finding his Hulk-pants, he got up and tried to figure out where he was. He carefully walked over to an opening of the warehouse. There was a vast body of water between the warehouse and what looked like the skyline of Manhattan. He was somewhere in New Jersey.

Banner suddenly remembered that before the explosion on the Helicarrier, the results on his gamma detector came in. The tesseract was in Stark Tower. Should he go there and try to help? It was where he could do the most good, but it was also where he could do the most harm…He looked around the warehouse some more. He didn't know what he was looking for. Maybe nothing at all. He was trying to avoid making the decision: should he or should he not go to Stark Tower?

He spotted a duffle bag nearby, and looked around to see if he could find the owner. There was no one. He opened the bag to find a few science-fiction novels and some clothes. He took out a shirt and a pair of pants. They looked like they could fit him, so he put them on. Well, that was one problem out of the way…

He gasped as he saw a body within the rubble. An old man. He ran over and removed the pieces of concrete off the fragile form. It was a security guard, and he was bleeding and unconscious. There was a nasty cut along his forehead, but what concerned Bruce the most was the amount of concrete he had just removed from the man's chest.

"Sir? Sir, can you hear me?" he called to the old man. He prayed he was still alive. He checked his pulse and felt the faint beating. He was alive but barely. Not wanting to move him and risk causing more damage, Bruce got up and found a phone to call for help.

What had he done? He might have killed Natasha, and the poor man on the ground was near death. He looked out one of the windows and noticed a blue beam shooting straight up from what looked like Stark Tower. Loki was opening the portal for his army. Resolved in his decision, Bruce turned his back on the window and dialed 9-1-1. He wouldn't go to Stark Tower. He had hurt enough people.

**A/N: You may have noticed that I used a few lines from the The Avengers and Thor (twisted around to suit my purpose, of course). That's because they were too awesome to resist using. I especially love the "Men like you" exchange in the movie. One of the greatest moments, in my humble opinion. **

**Sorry if Carolina came off as a little whiny in this chapter, but it's not like she can hold Loki down to stop him. Even though she knew it was hopeless, she had to try to talk him down. **

**Stay tuned for the next two chapters...THE BATTLE OF MANHATTAN!**


	11. Chapter 11: Battle of Manhattan, Part 1

**A/N: Okay, so the title of the following two chapters may be misleading. They take place ****_during_**** the Battle of Manhattan, but I won't be describing the battle itself. We've all seen the movie; we know what the Chitauri do: destroy everything in their path.**

**Chapter 11: Battle of Manhattan, Part One**

Tony Stark hovered outside Stark Tower wearing his incredibly damaged and completely worn out Iron Man suit. He hoped a few blasts from his hand-unit repulsors would shut down the tesseract machine before it opened up a portal into space. Unfortunately, the blasts revealed a dome-shaped energy force-field that appeared to be impenetrable. Well that sucked.

"The barrier is pure energy. It's unbreachable."

As incredibly useful as Jarvis was, there were times when Tony didn't need him to point out the obvious.

"Right," he said looking down at Dr. Selvig who got knocked out during one of the blasts. He'd be fine. Probably. Tony caught Loki looking up at him from the lower level balcony. "Plan B."

Tony stepped off onto his landing pad located on the upper level balcony and let the mechanical, robotic arms remove his suit. Now he was exposed. Unarmed. Defenseless. When he saw Loki head inside the suite, Tony allowed himself a brief inner freak-out moment before he composed himself and put his game-face on. He might have been a tad nervous, but there was no way he was going to let Loki see that. In a couple of minutes, he'd have Baby Brother crying for his mama. He let that amusing image give him the courage he needed to face the god.

"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity," laughed Loki from the lower level. The smug bastard looked like he would enjoy such a display.

"No, no, of course not," Tony laughed in response. "We both know you don't have any."

Loki kept his smile, but some of the humor left his eyes. "Then pray-tell: what do I owe such a _disarmingly_ surprising visit?"

They both knew Tony was vulnerable without his armor on, and that Loki could point his magic wand at him and obliterate him. Loki was having fun with him. Tony had to use that to his advantage so he could get to his homing bracelets for the Mark VII suit.

"Well, as the owner of this place, I wanted to see how the current tenant is doing." Tony walked down the steps toward the bar. "I mean, if you're going to raise a family here, Manhattan isn't a bad place…"

Loki's eyes narrowed as he said, "I don't follow."

Tony studied Loki's expression carefully as he made his way behind the bar, "The woman from Germany. The one you're starting your happy family with…"

"Oh, her," Loki rolled his eyes as he seemed to realize what Tony was talking about. He waved his hand dismissively. "Yes, well, unfortunately for her, she proved to be rather disappointing. I had to dispose of her shortly after." Suddenly, Loki's face lit up and his lips curved mischievously. "Although," he walked over to one of the couches and picked up a picture frame, showing Tony the photo encased in it. "I had thought of this woman as a replacement." It was a picture of Pepper.

Tony quickly turned around and grabbed a bottle of scotch from the array of alcohol lining the shelves. "Care for a drink? I'm having one." He didn't want to give Loki the satisfaction of knowing he caught him off guard. He turned back around and served himself a drink on the bar counter. He took his time. He knew Loki was trying to rile him up by threatening Pepper. It was working. He needed to control the fire building inside of him.

Loki pretended to regard Pepper's photo. The one Tony took himself when he had finally convinced Pepper to take a break from helping him run Stark Industries and his life. She agreed to take a weekend off to go to Catalina Island with him. There was an instant when they were having dinner outside in the cool sunset when she didn't seem to be thinking about the grown-up responsibilities he so easily forgot. That was when he took the latest model cell phone he created and took a picture of her. The one where she was smiling at him as she tried to keep the breeze from blowing her hair into her face. The picture he kept hidden in his desk. The picture Loki had in his hands.

"Virginia 'Pepper' Potts," breathed Loki as he stroked the face in the picture. "She is quite lovely for a human. I hear she is also intelligent, though one must question the validity in that if she chooses to associate with the likes of you."

"She prefers geniuses to psychopaths," said Tony as he slammed his drink on the counter. His hand tightened around the glass as he took a deep breath. He couldn't let Loki get to him. He made himself release a small chuckle. "Women. Who knows why they do the things they do, am I right?" He spotted the homing bracelets on the counter and slyly put one on.

"Hmm." Loki murmured as he tossed the frame back on the sofa. "Soon I will discover the secrets of The Woman Behind the 'Genius.'" He lifted his scepter reminding Tony of his ability to control people's minds. "Or as she will soon be known: The Woman Who Writhes Beneath the King."

Tony slammed the glass of scotch onto the floor next to him, and his eyes blazed at the soon-to-be-dead god. The fire within him grew as he saw Loki's grin widen and he heard him laugh maliciously and cruelly like a Bond villain. The fucking asshole had thoroughly and successfully pissed him the hell off.

Tony quickly reached for the other homing bracelet, but before he could grab it his body crashed against a wall. The impact jarred his head. He was dizzy. He couldn't hear anything, and he was in pain. He shook his head to try to regain his faculties. He looked up and saw that Loki's back was turned. He squinted to try to make out what had just happened; the bump to his head was messing with his vision. A second figure came into focus. It was Agent Barton. He recognized him from the SHIELD footage. Barton was holding his bow but no arrow.

Tony took a painful breath as he looked down at his right shoulder. As he dreaded, there was an arrow pinning his shoulder to the wall; blood was seeping from the entrance point. That sucked. A lot. He took a few breaths as he braced himself for what he had to do. His hand curled around the arrow and he pulled at it while he lunged his body forward trying to dislodge himself from the wall. He cried out in agony. The arrow was still in him, but he was free. He stumbled forward as he tried to regain his balance. He noticed he was only a few feet away from the bar. From the second homing bracelet. From his Iron Man suit.

Ignoring the other two men in the room, he took a couple of staggering steps forward, but his body was pushed back again. Now there was an arrow coming out of his chest. Near the arc reactor that kept him alive.

Tony couldn't hold himself up, and he collapsed on the ground . He groaned in pain as he tried to stay on his side, not wanting the still-protruding arrows to cause more damage. He took excruciating breaths as he fought to keep his eyes open, but he felt himself slipping away. The last thing he heard were footsteps before his vision darkened and his body stilled.

xxx

Barton had the bedroom door open a crack as he observed the conversation taking place on the other side of the suite. Carolina watched him nervously from her seat on top of the bed. She couldn't make out what was being said. It must have been interesting because at one point Barton reached for his bow and his high-tech quiver.

"Stay here," he told her as he snapped his bow open. He left the room and closed the door.

Carolina cautiously got off the bed and leaned against the door to try to make out what was going on when she heard Loki yell, "Barton! I had hoped to eliminate him myself!"

Fighting every instinct that told her to stay in the room and mind her own business, she let her curiosity win. She opened the door a crack and saw a man up against a wall with an arrow coming out of his shoulder. Shocked, her hands flew to her mouth as she tried not to make a sound.

"I'm sorry, sir," said Barton to Loki. "But something didn't look right…" Suddenly, Barton withdrew another arrow from his quiver and shot the man again. The second arrow landed in the man's chest.

Carolina fought to keep the nauseous feeling in her stomach down as she tried again not to make a sound. The injured man fell to the ground and disappeared behind the bar. Barton walked over to where the man was and knelt down. Moments later he stood back up and took something from the bar. He turned to Loki and held up two gold-colored bracelets.

"What are those?" asked Loki, his anger replaced by curiosity.

"I don't know, but he was wearing one of them. I saw him reaching for the other one, so I shot him." Barton walked over to Loki and gave him the bracelets.

Loki took them in his hand and crushed them into pieces. He and Barton each took a piece and studied it.

"I'm no expert," offered Barton, "But it looks like some high-tech magnet technology." He studied the walls around the suite. "It's weird that Stark would come up here without his suit on…"

Carolina closed the door and slowly made her way to the bed. She shook her hands violently trying to release the well of emotions inside her. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream, but she knew she shouldn't.

That man was Tony Stark. The one man she thought could stop Loki, and he had two arrows sticking out of him. Was he dead? She wished she had her cell phone so she could call for help. So she could warn someone about Loki. No, it would have been useless even if she did have it. No one would believe her about Loki until it was too late. Like Barton said, _This is going to happen_.

And it looked like it was starting. Outside the floor-to-ceiling glass window in the bedroom, she saw strange creatures zip by. They rode on some hovering craft that carried three at a time. From what she could make out, the creatures had the same build as a human: two arms, two legs, two small eyes, a mouth, but they really didn't have a nose. Their skin looked grey and hairless, and they wore gold-colored armor that barely covered their bodies. She thought she might have been hallucinating, but another trio flew by the window. Loki's army had arrived.

Carolina ran to the door and opened it a crack. She saw Loki's elated expression as he announced, "The Chitauri are here." He looked like a kid on Christmas morning: the present he had been waiting for all year was within his grasp.

"And they'll need a leader," Barton nodded.

"Indeed," agreed Loki, "But first…"

As if on cue, Carolina heard the familiar ding of an elevator announcing someone's arrival to the penthouse suite. She couldn't see the elevator door from her position, so she waited until the occupant made his way into the room. It was a man dressed in a black suit and tie wearing a white ear-piece that curled down into his clothing. He appeared to be middle-aged but fit with decades of discipline and training behind him. His demeanor reminded her of Loki's agents, but he seemed different.

"Sir," the man addressed Loki, "We should leave now."

Loki smiled wide and excited, "Excellent. I am eager to meet your employer." He walked over to the man and placed his hand on his shoulder. The two disappeared instantly.

Carolina couldn't help her audible gasp of shock, but Barton didn't seem to hear her as he was outside on the balcony. She saw him and another agent carry Dr. Selvig inside the suite, so she closed the door to the bedroom to avoid being seen.

Carolina tried to wrap her brain around what she just saw. Loki and that other man disappeared. They just _disappeared_. They were gone. It was impossible, but she just saw it happen…

Moments later she heard disturbing sounds coming from the other side of the door. There was a fight going on.

Xxx

Agent Clint Barton and another agent set the unconscious Dr. Selvig on one of the couches of the suite-the couch nearest the master bedroom where the King's woman resided. The sound of gunfire caught his attention and he looked up to see Natasha Romanoff knocking out the last of the four agents who were supposed to be guarding the tesseract. He ordered the agent with him to stay hidden while he dealt with his former SHIELD partner.

When he reached the main area of the suite he realized he lost visual on Romanoff. Drawing an arrow onto his bow, he scanned the room looking for any signs of the Widow. He remembered too late that one of Romanoff's favorite stealth spots were in the crevices of ceilings and their adjacent walls.

He looked up to see the black-clad redhead dropping down on him and positioning herself behind him, her legs around his abdomen and one of her arms locking around his neck. She was trying to make him pass out. He growled as he slammed back against a nearby wall, crushing the petite agent. He heard her moan after her head knocked against the wall. He threw them against the protruding corner of another wall, which would cause more pain to Romanoff's back. He kept backing into the same spot, knowing that eventually Romanoff would have to untangle herself from him or risk getting her back crushed. He wasn't wrong. After the fourth encounter with the wall, he felt her weight disappear from his back.

Coughing as he tried to suck in more air, Barton reached down for the bow and arrow that had escaped his grasp during the attack. He quickly drew his weapon as he stood straight, being greeted with the sight of Romanoff across the room in front of the bar with her gun drawn straight at his head. His arrow was already aimed at her. He waited for her move, for the right moment to strike.

Both agents took the opportunity to catch their breaths, but they remained ever vigilant of the other's position. Romanoff's eyes were focused on him, but for a second he saw them falter to somewhere beside him. The King's companion must have been snooping from the door again. He caught her doing so earlier when he was trying to figure out where Stark must have been hiding his other Iron Man suit. No doubt Miss Leon had temporarily caught Romanoff's attention.

Though he knew Romanoff wouldn't purposefully want to risk hurting a civilian, she might think Miss Leon's life would be an acceptable loss if she thought she could take Barton, and in-turn Loki, down. It was a risk, however, his master wouldn't allow.

Barton slowly moved one leg across the other, shifting his position to his left. He kept going, on foot across the other, knowing that Romanoff would mimic his movement to keep him directly in front of her but keeping the same distance apart. Their eyes remained locked and their weapons were still pointed at each other as they moved in a circle, and they eventually ended where the other began. Romanoff had her back to Selvig's couch and the master bedroom, and Barton had his back to the bar. He was glad to see the bedroom door was closed, leaving Miss Leon relatively safe inside.

"You know," Romanoff finally spoke, "This reminds me of the day we met in Moscow."

Barton's mind immediately flashed to the day they formally met. He was tailing her, waiting for the right moment to move in for the kill. She, of course, was already aware of his presence. When she finally decided to confront him, they were in a position identical to the one they were in now. Barton also remembered what else happened that day. He felt his lip curl at the memory.

"Yeah," he responded. "And it's going to end the way it did there, too."

Barton made sure not to give away the position of the agent he told to hide minutes ago. The agent was sneaking up behind Romanoff with his gun pointed to the back of her head. Barton saw Romanoff give her own little smile before she quickly moved to the side, away from the agent's line of fire, and she tossed her gun into the air. Barton barely dodged the bullet that was meant for Romanoff. Still facing him, Romanoff took the outstretched arm of the agent behind her and slammed his elbow down onto her shoulder, breaking his elbow and shoulder joints, and causing him to drop his weapon.

"I don't plan on getting shot this time," Romanoff said as she held her arm out and caught the gun she tossed in the air moments ago.

Barton had to take her down. Now. He released the arrow aimed at her chest, but was shocked to see it land in the agent's back. Romanoff had used the man's body as a shield, and let the now-unconscious agent fall to the ground.

Barton reached back for another arrow, but Romanoff shot at the hand holding his bow. Though he managed to avoid getting his hand shot, he dropped his bow, and his jaw was immediately greeted by Romanoff's fist. He tried to locate her weapon, but she kept attacking him. He blocked her next blow and gave his own punch, but she dodged it. He found himself flying over her shoulder and landing painfully on his back, on top of his quiver, against the floor. He felt her pelt him with a series of blows to his gut and his face before he rolled out of the way and tripped her with his feet. The momentum of her fall allowed her to land on her upper back and spring herself back up. He finally landed his own punches to her abdomen and face before she successfully started dodging them.

Frustrated, he charged her and threw her body back against the corner of the bar where he heard a cracking sound. It was her back. He heard her cry in agony as she slid down to the ground. He stepped back and watched her. Her face turned red and her eyes watered with the effort to breathe through the pain. He saw her struggle to stand back up. Her back wasn't broken. Her gun had fallen off her and was now at his feet. Before she could stand erect, he reached down and grabbed her gun by the barrel and hit her head with the handle as hard as he could. She was thrown back and was now lying unconscious on the ground.

Barton set the gun on the bar counter. He began to feel the effects of the fight on his body as he slowly made his way to his bow. He picked it up and staggered over to Romanoff. She remained on the ground, helpless against a kill-shot. He withdrew an arrow from his still-intact quiver and held it in his hand, not yet placing it within his bow. She was an obvious threat to the king's plans. He would want her dead, but Barton didn't make a move. He just stood and watched her unconscious form. What was he doing? He should just kill her already. He hesitantly set his arrow in his bow when an idea hit him. Romanoff was a formidable opponent, but she could be a valuable asset. He put his arrow away in his quiver. He reasoned that he would wait for the king to decide if he wanted to turn her.

Barton decided to check on the tesseract. The portal was still open, and the device was still intact. He knew there was an energy force-field protecting the cube. It was safe despite the fact that the agents assigned to guard it were sprawled all over the balcony unconscious or dead.

"Barton!" he heard the king call him through his earpiece. "The bloody captain is making his way to Stark Tower. Deal with him!"

The king was obviously back in Manhattan and leading the Chitauri attack.

"Roger that, sir," he responded.

"Yes, _Rogers_," he heard Loki affirm, irritated. The king clearly wasn't used to the radio lingo the agents used.

"Yes, sir," Barton clarified, "I'm on it."

**It's not over yet! On to Part Two!**


	12. Chapter 12: Battle of Manhattan, Part 2

**Chapter 12: Battle of Manhattan: Part Two**

Carolina hid in the bathroom after she heard gunfire in the suite.

Barton was fighting a woman with a gun. She didn't want to be shot in the crossfire, so she closed the door she was spying through. Then the gun went off, and she ran into the bathroom.

Did the woman kill Barton? Or did Barton manage to get ahold of the gun and kill the woman? She stayed in the bathroom for several minutes before she cracked the bathroom door open, listening for any clues as to what might be going on. When she didn't hear anything, she snuck over to the bedroom door and listened again. Still nothing. She cracked the door a bit and barely managed to see Barton jump off the building and disappear from view.

Barton was gone. She opened the door a little wider and surveyed the suite. There was an agent face-down on the ground with an arrow in his back. Carolina swallowed hard, trying not to get sick. In front of the bar, on the ground, she saw the woman Barton was fighting. On shaky legs, she took a step out of the room. Barton's words echoed in her mind: _Your orders are to stay in this room. Don't leave unless instructed to do so by the king or myself._

She felt her palms moisten with sweat as she defied her orders. She told herself it was okay. She wasn't stupid enough to try to escape again; she just wanted to see what was going on. To make sure it was safe. She took a few more steps into the suite and was shocked to see more unconscious agents in the balcony. Something big went on.

Carolina realized that Tony Stark might still be in the suite. She slowly walked over to the bar, careful not to trip over the unconscious woman in her path. As she made her way behind the bar, she saw broken glass, the content of broken liquor bottles mixed with the crimson hue of blood, and on top of it all: Tony Stark. He was lying on his back, barely breathing, and he still had the arrows in his body.

He was still alive. She sighed with relief.

The parts of the arrows closest to Stark's body were drenched in blood. She realized that lying on his back must have pushed the arrows up and away from his body. She could probably pull them all the way out, but she didn't know if that was a good idea.

"Mr. Stark?" she called weakly as she knelt down beside him trying to avoid the broken glass. She ignored the feeling of liquor and blood soaking her dress and onto her knees. When she heard no response from Stark, she tried again, but a little louder. "Mr. Stark?" She shook him.

"Ehhh!" Stark moaned weakly, his eyes still closed.

"Sorry," she realized moving him was probably not a good idea. "Mr. Stark, what can I do to help you?" She hadn't planned further than waking him up. What could she possibly do? She wasn't a doctor. She had no medical training.

"Deploy!" Stark's eyes snapped open as he feebly shouted.

Carolina wasn't sure what to make of what he said. She saw him struggle to get up, but as soon as he raised his back an inch off the ground, he collapsed again, moving the arrows within his body. He cried out again.

"Mr. Stark, don't move," she told him as she lay her hands on his good shoulder. She looked around desperately for some way to help him, but she didn't know what she was looking for. "Do you have a cell phone? I can call for help." She wasn't sure help would come in time or at all, but she had to do something.

Stark's face paled as he struggled to breathe. "Jarvis!" he cried out finally looking at her, acknowledging her. He was exerting most of his energy. "Open the door to the Control Room."

Carolina pitied the man. He thought she was someone else. She was about to tell him that there was no one else around when a sound behind her made her jump away. A small section of the wall behind her opened up to reveal a hidden room. She looked down at Stark who had his eyes shut.

"Mr. Stark?" she wanted to see if he was still conscious. She heard him mumbling. She leaned in closer to hear what he was saying.

"…appointment with Pepper…consulting hours….every other Thursday…"

That was clearly nonsense, so she ignored it. Carolina stood up and slowly approached the entrance to the hidden room. Bright lights lit up the small space mostly made up of a chair and table with a desktop computer. She noticed there was another door at the opposite side of the room. Inches from the ceiling, there was a large, transparent tube that went from one end of the room next to the door to the suite, to the other end of the room next to the other door. Inside and in the middle of the tube was a large red capsule. She couldn't begin to try to figure out what it was.

Carolina took a deep breath and stepped into the room. It was so small it couldn't be the Control Room Stark was talking about. She immediately stood frozen as thin green lines suddenly flashed in front of her face. Fearing they were deadly lasers she ducked out of their way and outside of the room. They couldn't have been burning lasers, she told herself. They had been all over her face, and her head was still intact.

"Welcome to Stark Tower, Carolina Leon."

She jumped back when she heard a disembodied male voice with an English accent echo from the hidden room. She crept to the doorway and looked inside the room. She searched for a camera she could look into. Obviously someone was watching her.

"How do you know my name?" she asked into the room. "Who are you?"

"I am JARVIS," the voice sounded from the room. "An artificial intelligent system created by Anthony Stark. While you were inside the Control Room, I scanned your facial features and found a match within my files."

Carolina stepped into the small room and saw the desktop was turned on, but what was on the screen was projected above the computer. It was like one would do with a laptop and a television screen with the appropriate cable connections, but this projection was in the air. On the screen was a picture of her driver's license in front of a digital file marked "Carolina Leon." She was speechless. Why did Tony Stark have a file on her? Maybe he didn't. Maybe he just had access to DMV records…

"Wait, did you say 'artificial intelligence?'" she looked around the room, amazed and a little uneasy.

"Yes, Miss Leon."

"Oh." She didn't know how to talk to whatever Jarvis was. She couldn't even believe she was talking to a non-human entity. To some smart machine or program. What could this non-corporeal thing do to help Tony Stark? "Can you help Mr. Stark?"

"You will have to do most of the work, Miss Leon," responded Jarvis. "I have already called for an ambulance, but it will take some time before they reach the lower level parking lot. There are quite a few obstacles in their way."

It…he…was referring to the war outside. Maybe Stark's name would get him preferential treatment, as unfair as that sounded. "You want me to take him downstairs?" She was afraid of leaving the suite. Loki or one of his agents might see her and think she was trying to escape. She had been threatened with death so many times, she didn't want to test her boundaries where the issue of escape was concerned.

"No, Miss Leon. I would ask that you bring Mr. Stark into the Control Room. The room itself is an elevator."

Oh, thank goodness. Carolina went over to Stark and tried to assess how best to move him. She didn't want to drag him by his hands since there was an arrow in his shoulder. Instead, she linked her arms under his and dragged him backwards into the room. He cried in agony and she apologized the entire way, "Sorry, sorry, sorry…" When his legs cleared the doorway, she lowered him down as gently as she could.

"Well done, Miss Leon."

Carolina laughed nervously into the ceiling as she realized a computer program was praising her. Her mind immediately went to the woman Barton was fighting. She ran over to her and saw she was still unconscious. She didn't appear to have any gunshot or arrow wounds, but the side of her head looked like it had been bleeding. She took a chance and shook her.

"Hey!" she called. "Hey, miss!" The woman didn't respond. Carolina placed two fingers on the side of the woman's neck, trying to find a pulse. She laughed relieved when she found one. Things were looking good.

"Jarvis," she called to the Control Room. "Do you know if she's with Stark or if she's with Loki?" She didn't know why Barton would fight one of Loki's agents, but she needed to know before she did anything.

Jarvis didn't scan her face as he did Carolina's. "Agent Natasha Romanoff of SHIELD. Yes, she is one of Mr. Stark's allies."

"Okay, great," she dragged the woman in the same manner she did Stark. She was glad to be useful instead of helplessly fretting in the bedroom. As soon as both women were inside, the door to the Control Room closed. She felt a jolt as the room was being lowered.

Carolina became anxious. The penthouse was on the top floor of Stark Tower, and they were being taken to the parking lot. That was quite a distance from the bedroom she was told not to leave.

"Miss Leon?" spoke Jarvis.

"Yeah?" Carolina responded nervously.

"Would you be so kind as to place these" a small drawer popped out of a wall "on Mr. Stark's person?"

Carolina looked inside the drawer and found a cell phone and a pair of gold bracelets inside. She grabbed them and carefully put them in one of Stark's jeans pocket.

"Thank you." The drawer closed back into the wall.

The room was silent except for the noise of the elevator making its descent. Carolina fidgeted with her fingers nervously. "So, Jarvis," she said, "Do you just hang around in this room?"

"For now, Miss Leon," responded Jarvis. "I normally control all the systems in the building, but the criminal, Loki, has computer technicians impeding my access. Fortunately, they are unaware of this room's existence, as well as other hidden features of the building."

"Oh," was all Carolina could say.

The room reached its destination and a door opened into what looked like a parking garage. Carolina ducked as she heard screams and gunfire coming from the city streets. There were people running into buildings, but they all avoided the one with the bright bream that allowed the fierce alien army to enter and attack the city.

"The ambulance will arrive in approximately two-and-a-half minutes, Miss Leon. No one may be allowed to enter the Control Room or know of its existence."

"Is this your way of telling me to move my ass?" Carolina yelled from her cowering position.

"Respectfully, Miss, yes."

Now she was taking orders from a computer…definitely not what she thought she would be doing with her day. Realizing the parking garage itself wasn't being fired upon, she took her time dragging Stark and the agent out of the Control Room so as not to aggravate their injuries. When she was done she rushed back into the room.

"Okay, Jarvis. Let's go."

The doors did not close. "It would be best if you were to remain here until the ambulance arrives. SHIELD agents are on their way to the hospital to meet you and to check on Mr. Stark and Agent Romanoff."

"No, no, no, no, no…" Carolina backed further into the room and away from the garage. "I have to go back, Jarvis. He'll kill me."

"The SHIELD agents will be able to protect you…"

"No, Jarvis!" she yelled towards the ceiling. She heard emergency sirens approach the building. "Take me back to the penthouse _now_!"

"Miss Leon, it would be best…"

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT'S BEST FOR ME!" she cried angrily. "I'm sick of being told what to do! For now I have to deal with it from a psychopathic god and his minions, but I won't take it from some faceless computer program. _I_ decide what's best for me, and that's going back to the penthouse, so take me there _right now_!"

There was silence in the room as she waited for Jarvis to respond. He didn't speak. The door closed, and she felt the room being lifted. She let out the breath she was holding as she leaned against a wall. She had to get back to the bedroom before anybody realized she was gone. She managed to calm herself down by the time they reached the penthouse.

"Jarvis?" she called softly.

"Yes, Miss Leon?"

"Sorry about freaking out."

"Apology accepted. Thank you for your assistance."

Carolina smiled, glad to be on good terms with the program. "You're welcome."

The door to the penthouse opened. Carolina stuck her head out and saw that everything was as she left it. The agent with an arrow in his back hadn't moved; he could very well be dead, she grimly realized. She tried not to think about it. The agents surrounding the tesseract were still unconscious. As soon as she stepped out of the Control Room, the door shut behind her. She turned around and looked at the door that blended in flawlessly with the wall beside it. She was alone.

Carolina started to move toward the bedroom when movement by the balcony caught her eye. There was a man standing along the edge of the building which served as a walkway to the balcony to anyone crazy enough to be out there. The man was tall, blonde, and muscular. His clothing was as strange as Loki's. He had armor across his chest and he had a long, red cape. He was yelling something to someone on the upper balcony, and he motioned with a large, rectangular-shaped hammer in his hand. He looked angry and frightening. Was he part of Loki's army?

Suddenly a flash of green, black, and gold descended onto the man. It was Loki. The two began fighting: Loki with his scepter and the other man with his hammer. Carolina remained crouched behind the furthest end of the bar to keep from being seen. She didn't know who the blonde was, but if he could stop Loki from destroying New York City, then she was rooting for him.

She heard a loud crashing sound as one of the glass walls shattered. She heard grunts and strikes as the battle continued just outside the suite. Thankfully, they didn't bring the fight inside.

"Look at this!" an unfamiliar voice shouted. It must have been the blonde. "Look around you! Do you think this madness will end with your rule?"

Carolina knew she should stay down where she was hidden and safe, but she had to see what was going on. She peeked her head up and saw both Loki and the blonde man holding the scepter between them. They seemed to be giving their fight a brief respite.

From her position she could see Loki's eyes. She'd never seen them look that way before. So conflicted, so desperate, so unsure. He did what the man said and looked at the city below them. No doubt he saw the destruction and chaos his army had caused and were continuing to bring. For a split second she thought his gaze turned to the bedroom door inside the suite.

"It's too late," Loki breathed. "It's too late to stop it."

Carolina couldn't believe what she heard. Did Loki _want_ to stop the attack?

"No," the man said with the same hope she was feeling. "We can stop it. Together." He smiled at Loki. Whoever he was, he wasn't just some warrior. He cared about Loki.

Loki smiled back at him, his eyes wild with realization. It looked odd. A second later, he thrust something small and sharp into the man's side. The man staggered back and stumbled onto the ground.

"Sentiment," breathed Loki through his maniacal grin.

The blonde man charged at Loki, but the green-clad god was ready for him. Loki held out his scepter and plunged the curved blade up and into the other man's abdomen. The man stilled as he grabbed Loki's shoulder. Loki twisted the blade and his victim cried in agony. The scepter began to glow and the entire blade elicited orange and yellow flames that originated from inside the blonde's wound. The man continued screaming as his insides began to boil. Moments later his clothes were lit with the magical flame.

Loki pushed him away and the man fell on his knees. "Brother!" cried out the man with a burning, outstretched arm toward his tormentor.

"Not anymore." Loki pushed the man's chest with his foot and the blazing man fell off the building. Loki watched the man plummet down to the city streets below. With an insane laugh he jumped down after him.

Carolina quickly ran across the suite and into the bedroom, closing the door behind her. She huddled in a corner and cried. That man was Loki's brother. It never occurred to her that Loki would have a family, but apparently he did. His brother came to stop him, and he killed him. He killed his own brother. What hope did she and the rest of humanity have?

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading the last two chapters as much as I enjoyed writing them. Let me know if there were any parts that were unclear and I will fix them. I noticed a continuity issue with Chapter 10, so I fixed that. (No major changes, so there's no need to reread it). Thanks to all the lovely readers who are still hanging in there with me. Thanks for favoriting/following and, most of all, reviewing. I'm psyched about reaching 100 followers. You all rock!**


	13. Chapter 13:Battle of Manhattan:Aftermath

**A/N: (This is more of a rant, so feel free to skip this part). Oh my gods! Over six weeks without updating? What the hell is wrong with me? Is anybody still reading this? Hello? Echo! Echo! Echo! For those of you who missed me, I apologize. I have not neglected this story, nor do I intend to. I think about this story every day and every night. I am committed, but I'm still a novice writer which is what delays the updates.**

**Here it is: Chapter 13!**

**Chapter 13: Battle of Manhattan: Aftermath**

Loki stood on the balcony of Stark Tower in front of the now-dormant tesseract portal beholding the destruction of the once great metropolis. The battle had ended. It had been short and the Midgardian sun was still in the sky, but the battle was his.

The Chitauri were ordered to move on to other major cities in the land. Not to bring down carnage and devastation this time, but to observe. To watch. The Chitauri were not accustomed to simply being idle, but they were hired mercenaries. They would do as they were told if they wished to be rewarded. Though they could not be blamed if they were forced to defend themselves against an opposing threat should any of the local humans allow themselves to be perceived as such.

The human military had laid down their weapons to aid in the search and recovery of their fellow mortals. Construction vehicles shifted and removed debris in an attempt to locate trapped citizens. The sounds of Midgardian emergency vehicles echoed throughout the city, but could barely be heard by the God of Lies from his elevated position.

Loki laughed, delighted with the scene below him. The humans were like ants scurrying about. Lost and desperate. He spread his arms open wide and took a deep breath, absorbing and savoring the chaos below. It felt like a warm blanket. It felt right. The chaos below calmed the chaos within him: the disarray of the mind and life of one who believed himself to be a blood prince of Asgard…

Though he was satisfied with the work of the day, there was still more to be done before the Earth was truly his. He called Barton to join him out on the balcony. "I trust you took care of the captain?"

"Yes sir," reported Barton, "the arrows I used on him contained enough tranquilizers to knock out an elephant for days. Even if he survived, he still won't be able to metabolize the drugs and wake up any time soon."

Loki nodded, satisfied. He did not want to address the disappointing subject of how Barton left the Widow alone, thus giving her the chance to escape with Stark. He would deal with them at another time should they prove to be a threat. After today, that might not be the case.

"And my lady? How does she fare?" He looked into the suite, but he was unable to see the bedroom door from his current position.

"I had an agent send her some food from the kitchen, and she asked for a suitcase so she could change. The agent said she took a shower as soon as the suitcase arrived." Barton noticed Loki's eyes narrow at the mention of his lady potentially being caught nude by anybody but himself, and he quickly added. "I made sure the agent was a woman."

Loki loosed his grip on the railings he didn't remember grasping. He wanted to check on Carolina himself, but he had to keep his mind on the task at hand. He smiled as he thought about what was to come.

"Has the doctor finished the second device?"

Dr. Selvig was unfortunate enough to awaken from his pleasant state of servitude when he was knocked unconscious by Stark's attempt to destroy the tesseract device. Luckily, Loki was there when this became evident and was able to reintroduce the doctor to his former condition of contentment and loyalty.

"Yes, sir. He just brought it in."

"Then let us not keep him waiting."

Loki strode majestically into the suite and was greeted by his loyal soldiers and their newly attained prisoners. He ordered twelve of his men to capture one of Fury's agents from the battle to test the doctor's new device. He was not disappointed as there was a circle of each of his men with a bruised and bloodied SHIELD agent kneeling in front of them, their wrists bound behind them, their mouths gagged, and a gun pointed to the back of their head. Some of the prisoners looked terrified while most tried to look brave and determined. He walked into the circle they formed where Dr. Selvig waited, clutching a small object in his hands gleefully.

Loki was better at controlling his eagerness to test out the new device than the doctor was, though he couldn't help his massive grin as he held out his scepter on his open palms to the doctor. "Would you do the honors?"

Dr. Selvig released a girlish giggle as he placed a small, black, magnetic ring around the scepter just below the crystal which glowed once the device came into contact with it. Loki gripped the scepter and felt the energy reach his fingertips. He was amazed at how such a small object could radiate so much power. He held out the scepter high above his head for all to see, then he slammed the base onto the ground. The scepter emanated sea-blue smoke that seemed to reach out like ghastly arms to every human heart in the room. As each arm of smoke found its goal, a gaunt hand reached into the human's chest and seemed to grab hold of the beating muscle within, then, a second later, the smoke dissipated into nothingness.

To Loki's men already under his influence, the smoke only reinforced their loyalty to the god. Fury's captured men, however, felt the burden of choice and free will recede to make way for the desire and drive to serve Loki, their king and master. After receiving the signal, the twelve armed men put their pistols away and relieved the kneeling agents of their bonds. Once freed the agents stood at attention, saluting their new leader.

Loki laughed sinisterly at the success of the device. No longer would he have to turn a human to his cause one-by-one. He could do a roomful at a time now. He wasted no time in leaving Stark Tower to revisit new acquaintances with this new power.

Xxx

It had been hours since Carolina witnessed Loki kill his brother. When she was finally able to think about something other than the madness and glee on Loki's face while he kicked his burning brother off the ledge of the building, she noticed how the pandemonium outside had subsided. She didn't see the large flying creatures or the aliens in their levitating vehicles. Did that mean the battle was over? Who won? There were still sounds coming from the suite outside the bedroom door. She had to assume Loki was still around.

That was when she realized that the condition of her dress would not go unnoticed if she didn't do something about it. When the agent came in with some food, Carolina covered the stains on her dress by hiding behind one of the large bed pillows, and she asked for a change of clothes. While she showered she tried to wash the filthy dress as much as she could. She managed to get a good amount of stains out then threw it in the clothes hamper. She put on a long, sleeveless dress she randomly picked from the suitcase brought to her.

Feeling fresh and invigorated, she set off to try to figure out how to turn on Stark's television. It was surprisingly easy, as Stark had a remote control that had buttons for everything in the room including the television, the computer (which was offline), the lights, and even the curtains.

She stood in front of the television as she flipped through the channels. Most of the channels covered the goings on in Manhattan. There was footage of the streets below her: soot-covered people crying and looking for their loved ones, people working together to remove rubble on top of trapped people, scenes of crushed and overturned vehicles, holes in buildings, emergency vehicles…

Carolina sat at the edge of the bed as she recalled watching similar scenes on television over a decade ago, but the people were covered in white ash. Back then, she naively thought there were going to be gun battles and tanks in every major city in the country. She was wrong then, but she couldn't help those fears from reemerging to the forefront of her mind as she watched the footage of the day.

Carolina stood up and was about to turn off the television when the screen was filled with what looked like the Press Room of the White House. The room was filled with reporters getting to their seats while shouting to their coworkers who were off-camera. The voice of a well-known and respected female journalist was heard above the chatter.

_"…And now we are down to five minutes. Five minutes until the President is expected to take the podium and make a statement. The nation is waiting to hear his plans on how to deal with the situation in New York City. It has been rumored that the President has been in contact with the alien visitor known only as Loki._

_One must ask why the President plans to address the nation from the Press Room in the White House and not in a secret location. It was rumored that the President and his family were initially evacuated when the attack began, but at this moment it is known that the President, at least, is still in the White House. One can only hope that this is a good sign._

_The alien attack began at approximately 3:07 Eastern Time in Midtown Manhattan. A blue light emanating from Stark Tower and into the sky seemed to be the entrance point of the alien army. Stark Tower, which belongs to famous billionaire genius, Tony Stark, is home to a large arc reactor prototype that emits clean energy and is rumored to be able to power the building for a year. _

_Tony Stark, himself, or at least his Iron Man suit, made an appearance after the attack began. He was seen entering his building but not leaving. Some speculate he was the one to make first contact with the alien, Loki, and may have been the one to help initiate contact with the White House. _

_Tony Stark was not the only costumed figure to be seen in the area during the attack. Sightings of the long believed-to-be-deceased World War II hero…Oh! It looks like the President is on his way…"_

There was a tall, middle-aged, auburn-haired woman at the podium giving last minute details to the seated reporters.

_"…you can address your questions to me after he leaves. Now ladies and gentleman, the President of the United States."_

Everyone in the room rose to their feet as the White House Press Secretary walked off the stage and the President of the United States made his way to the podium. When the reporters sat down, Carolina found herself backing onto the edge of the bed and sitting down. Waiting and listening.

It took a moment for the commotion to die down before the President began.

_"My fellow Americans. The question of whether or not we are alone in the universe has been answered. No doubt many of you have questions and concerns regarding the incident in New York City this afternoon. Some of you might even be afraid, but I am here to tell you that you don't need to be afraid. I, myself, as well as senior officers of the military and intelligence community have been in contact with the alien leader, Loki. He has assured us that the incident in Manhattan was a misunderstanding between our two…for lack of a better word, cultures."_

There were immediate mumblings within the group of reporters. Carolina, herself, shouted to the television, "What. The. _Fuck_?" The President waved his hand to settle the reporters down.

_"The alien, Loki, has assured us that he comes in peace. As a sign of good faith, he will personally see to the repairing and reconstruction of the damage to the city of New York. _

_Ladies and gentlemen, we are standing in the middle of human history in the making. We have made contact with alien life! This is an exciting opportunity to learn about what is out there in not only our galaxy but in others as well. The alien, Loki, only wishes to learn about our planet and the different cultures and peoples within it. He, in turn, will teach us new technologies that can help end world hunger, eradicate global warming, and help us travel to other galaxies in the universe. That is why I am going to meet with Congress tomorrow to propose they vote to reopen and fund our Space Exploration division."_

Again, there were mumblings between the reporters.

Carolina just stared at the screen. Loki had gotten to the President. She suddenly remembered the man in the black suit and white ear piece who arrived after the Chitauri attack began. He wasn't…? He couldn't have been…? _"I am eager to meet your employer."_ A Secret Service agent.

What was the point of making the President spew all these lies to the public? Loki would still be seen as a threat by many Americans as well as other people around the world. Was it a stall tactic? For what?

The President continued to talk about how Loki shouldn't be feared and all the good that could be done with his help. But his tone suddenly changed. His face was no longer lit with excitement of the prospect of space exploration. It was serious and full of warning.

_"I want everyone in the United States and the rest of the world to know that I have invited the alien, Loki, to reside here, in this country. He is understandably wary of showing his face to the public after the misunderstanding in Manhattan. I ask the citizens of this nation and of the world not to seek him out. I consider him to be my guest, and a close, personal friend of mine and that of our country. If any U.S. citizen harasses or attacks Loki, they will be arrested for treason. If any country harasses or attacks him, I will consider it to be an act of war, and I will respond accordingly. This is an exciting opportunity. Let's not mess it up, folks. Good evening. God bless you. And God bless America."_

As the President walked off the stage, the reporters jumped to their feet shouting for his attention. The Press Secretary walked onto the podium to answer the reporters' questions. The reporters clearly had more questions than were answered by the President.

_"'An act of war,' Allison? What does he mean by that?"_

_"Loki will be involved with classified projects that will benefit the nation and the world. He has to remain safe in order to help us."_

_"'Classified projects?' Like what? Military?"_

_"They're called 'classified' for a reason, Josh."_

_"Where is he from, Allison? What planet? What galaxy?"_

_"That's classified."_

_"'Classified?!' Some alien creature levels Manhattan, and we don't get to know the most basic information about him?"_

_"The President is still residing in the White House. The President and the Secret Service as well as heads of military and intelligent agencies don't see him as a threat; therefore, he is not a threat. I will, however, have a bio on our new alien friend available to you all by the end of the week."_

_"Our 'friend' is full of surprises. Are we to believe that the incident in Stuttgart was also 'a misunderstanding?'"_

_"Stuttgart? You mean the explosion that knocked all those cars over? Loki was trying to help with the aftermath of the accident. That castle houses many different chemicals and reactive agents. You'd have to ask the Germans what exactly happened."_

_"Whoa, whoa, wait! Witnesses say he intimidated them and kidnapped a woman. An American."_

Carolina's ears perked up as the reporter mentioned what happened to her. She didn't think she was on anybody's radar. The Press Secretary just laughed.

_"Yeah. I heard that one too. He kidnapped a woman to make her his bride or something. Trevor, you're a journalist. Why do you believe such drivel?"_

_"Are you saying the White House hasn't investigated the claim? An American citizen…"_

_"Yeah and if you ask the Brits they're going to say it was a British woman. The French will say it was a French woman. This is pure fantasy. I'm not going to dignify it any more. Next question."_

_"There are witnesses, Allison!"_

_"Yes, and they've admitted to being exposed to the chemicals from the explosion. The witnesses have recanted their statements. They were hallucinating."_

_"The same hallucination?"_

_"I'm not a doctor or a scientist. You'd have to ask one."_

_"How does Tony Stark fit into all of this? Loki was using Stark Tower to access his army. Did Stark set up the meeting with the President?"_

_"Loki used Stark Tower with Tony Stark's permission, but Mr. Stark had nothing to do with arranging the meeting between the President and Loki."_

_"Where is Tony Stark now? You would think he'd be here front and center with the President."_

_"I don't know the current whereabouts of Tony Stark. You'd have to ask his camp."_

_"How can the President be sure that the alien, Loki, is not a threat to us? That he doesn't plan on taking over the planet or using our resources for something sinister?"_

_"You've been watching too many sci-fi movies, Jean. I know it's in our nature to be wary of what's different, but there's no need to be in this case. Trust me. In time you'll all see the alien, Loki, as the President does. There's no reason to be afraid."_

Carolina turned off the television and threw the remote control across the room and into a wall, shattering it. She paced the room frantically. Loki even got to the people in Stuttgart. No one would be looking for her.

Loki wouldn't get away with it. Those reporters were skeptical of his intentions. They would keep digging, and they would find out that Loki had the President under his control. The world would find out, and they would stop him.

Carolina's body shook with anger and frustration. She hated feeling helpless. She wanted to scream. To break something else. But what good would it do? She was in the middle of this mess, and she wasn't entirely sure why.

Time passed and the sun went down. She was brought dinner and she forced herself to eat some of it. She was tired. She hadn't slept since Germany and she was emotionally exhausted, but she couldn't fall asleep. Not with all that was going on around her. She just sat at the edge of the bed and stared out the window. She could see the Chrysler Building. It was still intact. She just stared at it, trying to empty her mind, to relax, when the door opened.

She stood up as soon as she saw the green and black out of the corner of her eye. Loki was still dressed in his battle armor which was surprisingly clean of grime and blood, much like the scepter in his hand that he gutted his brother with hours ago. His eyes twinkled mischievously in the moonlight.

Carolina couldn't face him. Not tonight. Not after what she saw him do. Not while feeling so utterly dejected and alone.

Without thinking, Carolina crossed her arms and turned her back to him. She knew it was unwise to do so, so to cover-up for her poorly thought-out action, she walked away from him and picked up the broken remote control. She placed the broken pieces on a nearby vanity and leaned against it, trying not to look into the mirror.

She felt his presence before she heard him. He was right behind her. His cool fingers lowered a strap of her dress as he kissed her shoulder. She glanced up into the vanity mirror and saw his reflection. He no longer had his armor on, and the scepter was nowhere to be found. His head was lowered, immersed on her delicate skin as he lowered the bra strap off the same shoulder. His cool breath on her neck sent shivers throughout her body. "My apologies for having kept you waiting for so long," he whispered in her ear.

She instinctively leaned toward the pleasant feel of his breath, but lowered her head to avoid making contact with his eyes in the mirror. She should stop this. She didn't want this…at least she thought she didn't want it. "I…" she began but his lips on her ear made her shudder, "I…" She stepped away from his touch. "I saw you were busy in Washington today."

Loki glanced at the bedroom television then had Carolina back in his arms again. He released a throaty chuckle as he continued his ministrations to her neck. "Yes, a significant victory," he said as he shifted her hair to her other shoulder, gaining him access to the back of her neck and behind her ear. "There is no other way I wish to celebrate than by doing this…" His hands grabbed her hips and slowly brought the hem of her skirt up until they reached his hands.

"No," she said harshly as she shrugged her shoulder away from him and made to walk away. He wouldn't have it. His placed a hand on her abdomen and pinned her to him while the other found her neck and forced her to look up into the mirror. Into the reflection of his vicious eyes. His jaw was hard and she felt his breathing deepen as hers did, but for a different reason.

She cursed herself. She should know better than to refuse him. But she didn't want this. As pleasant as it was, she also felt depraved. How many people had he killed today? She wanted to be alone. Not to help the monster that created the despair below "celebrate" his "victory."

"Please," she looked into the reflection of his hard eyes. "Not tonight. Please. Just…not tonight."

She hoped he understood that even though he saw that night as a need to celebrate, she didn't. She needed to grieve. Couldn't he see that? The grip on her throat loosened and his lips curved into a smile. He laughed. The thumb on her neck caressed her skin as he breathed in her ear, "You are in no position to deny me anything. Especially tonight."

He didn't get it. He just didn't _get it_. Carolina peeled Loki's hand from her neck and turned to face him. She tried to look brave, "I'm saying _no_." The two simply stared at one another. Carolina looking defiant and Loki angry. She could feel his rage permeate from him and it suddenly absorbed her with fear.

Loki lowered his head until their eyes were inches apart. "I do not need permission to take what is mine," he said through gritted teeth.

"I-I'm not…"

Carolina was cut off by Loki's hand pulling her still-damp hair back. She cried out in pain and instinctively grabbed the offending hand. Damn it. She had gone too far.

"Do you really want to finish that thought?" he asked threateningly.

"No," she shook her head repeatedly, her eyes locked to his.

"'No,' what?" He looked down at her menacingly.

"No, my lord," she quickly responded.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, my lord!" Her voice rose with fear.

"Good girl. Now do as you're told. Undress."

When Carolina didn't move right away, Loki pulled at her hair. She quickly lowered the straps of her dress and let the garment fall to the ground. Loki released her hair and stepped back to get a better view of her. "Continue," he ordered.

Carolina released a defeated sigh as she took off her bra and panties. He was going to have her, and she was going to enjoy it, and she hated him for it. Making her enjoy his touch and having him inside her diminished her self-righteous indignation.

Loki's voice became husky with desire, "How could you ever think to deprive me of this?"

He crushed her lips with his own savoring her taste as his fingers teased the skin on her body. His feather-light touch trailed over her shoulders, down her back, over her bottom, until they played with the small curls between her legs.

She tried not to think about how his touch made her want him. How she wanted to have her fingers do some exploring of their own. But it was wrong, wasn't it? To enjoy the way his dancing digits made her shudder in her skin? To want to suck on his skin to see what he tasted like? She wanted to run her fingers through his hair to see what it felt like. Was his hair smoother than it looked? What the hell was wrong with her?

Loki pulled away from her and quickly turned her around, his fingers teasing her nipples until they became hard and his hands explored the round, sensitive flesh as his tongue tasted her ear.

Carolina swallowed hard as she closed her eyes and felt the sensations overtake her. She felt pressure on her back as Loki pushed her down onto the vanity, her bare breasts and her chin resting on the fine wood. He separated her legs apart as he found her moist opening. She was ashamed that she was ready so quickly. He only laughed at her humiliation. She lowered her head onto the vanity. She wouldn't allow herself to cry. She had done enough of that already.

His fingers continued to work her feminine folds as she tried to hold back her moans. The hand on her back gathered her hair and twisted the locks around it, pulling her head back. She cried in pain and shock. She could only see her own reflection as her face was inches from the mirror, but she could tell he was looking at her. "You say you don't want this," he growled, "But your body tells a different tale. Keep your eyes open, and watch as your body betrays you."

She could do nothing but comply. Her mouth was agape as his fingers found her clitoris. Her breathing deepened as the mirror became foggy from her warm breath. When she was near her release, his fingers disappeared and in moments was replaced fiercely by his cock. She cried out from the sudden invasion. Her hands found the edge of the vanity and grasped them tightly as his hips began to rock into her. Her body responded as her hips rocked back into him. His free hand wiped away the fog off the mirror as he threatened, "Don't you dare look away."

She looked into the mirror and saw the reflection of her own eyes: her pupils were dilated and her face became red due to her erratic breathing . She felt him move inside her causing her entire body to shift. Her breasts on the vanity moved forward and back with their rocking, making her nipples harder. Her stomach ached due to constantly being shifted over the edge of the vanity, making the items on top fall to the ground. She began to sweat with the intensity of their mating. Her moist hands slid over the wood as she felt her orgasm building.

Without warning, she felt a harsh sting on her bottom. Her painful moan mixed with his groan of pleasure. She was shocked; her bottom was barely healing from their morning in Germany. He struck her again, and this time she noticed that when he did, her vaginal walls instantly clenched his member inside of her. She heard him moan again as his pace quickened and he kept assaulting her bottom. He would pinch it, slap it, sometimes both; anything to keep her tight around him. She hated to admit it excited her down below. She was able to find and squeeze the edge of the vanity again when her body shook and her mind became dizzy with her release.

Loki finally released her hair and squeezed her shoulder, pinning her to the vanity, as he found his end. He collapsed on top of her as his breathing normalized. Her body ached with the abuse it took on the vanity, but she didn't dare make a move to remove herself from under him. She waited until she felt the burden of his weight lift before she slowly stood. She heard the bedroom door open and close behind her, and she knew she was alone.

She released a sigh as she looked at the vanity and the fallen objects on the floor around it. It looked a mess, but she couldn't bring herself to care. She just walked into the bathroom and took another shower. Sleep came to her easily that night, as her entire body was aching and exhausted from the last twenty-four hours.

**A/N: Well that was the longest chapter I've ever written. I think the press conference took a chunk of space but was easy enough to read through. I couldn't help myself from using the line from Independence Day: "The question of whether or not we are alone in the universe has been answered." (There might be more Independence Day references ahead. You have been warned!) Also I borrowed the wise-cracking press secretary character from C.J. Craig (played by Allison Janney) in the West Wing. I may have had a little too much fun writing the press conference scene. (Sorry if it was confusing to read. I tried dividing every Q&A in different paragraphs, but the site won't allow for multiple paragraph breaks. Unless I'm doing something wrong. Each question was supposed to be asked by a different reporter. I hope you got that. Meh.)**

**This is the end of the unofficial Part One of the story. The battle is done, the Avengers are down (but not out), and it looks like Loki is taking over. This second part will be a little more…domestic for Loki and Carolina (while other stuff happens around the world). **

**_ALERT!_**** So I'm thinking about changing the title of this story. Why? Because I hate it with a fiery passion. This was only supposed to be a one-shot, so I didn't care what the title was. Now that it's a story, I cringe every time I see the title. I don't know what the consequences are of changing the story title. Hopefully those that are following the story will still get updates. If I end up changing the title, it will be called, "The King's Companion" (the title of the second chapter). Not to be confused with the story "Companion" by molescout (though highly recommended. I recommend anything written by that woman!) If I change the title, it won't happen until I post Chapter 14.**

**Cheers!**


	14. Chapter 14: Hospital Visit

**Author's Note: I hope I didn't lose too many readers in my quest to give this story a less crappy title. For those of you who don't know: This story was previously called, "Loki Seeks a Mate," but will henceforth be called, "The King's Companion." Thank you.**

**Chapter 14: Hospital Visit**

Natasha Romanoff entered the lobby of Lower Manhattan General Hospital wearing black jeans, a brown top, and a tan leather jacket. She donned civilian clothing lately to avoid detection from Loki's men. Clint had already tried to kill her once and failed, Director Fury thought it best to avoid a second occurrence. Romanoff, herself, would have welcomed another opportunity to bring Clint in. But she had her orders and, from the way things were going, Earth couldn't afford to have a SHIELD agent pursue her own personal agenda.

Romanoff stepped onto the elevator when she heard a familiar voice calling to her. "Natasha! Hold the elevator!" The agent held out her hand against the elevator door to keep it from closing, allowing Pepper Potts to join her inside.

The blonde woman looked exhausted, but not nearly as terrible as she had the last couple of days. She looked like she'd just taken a shower before arriving with a styrofoam cup of coffee in hand and a laptop bag hanging from her shoulder. She had spent nearly every hour of every day next to Tony Stark's bed in the hospital ever since she first learned about his latest near-death experience.

As they ascended to Stark's floor they limited their conversation to idle chit-chat. It wasn't because they didn't have anything of significance to talk about or because they were being joined by hospital staff, visitors, and patients entering and exiting the elevator. It was because they were afraid they were being monitored by the enemy. It was unlikely Loki or his men knew which hospital they were at, or that they would have updated the security cameras to also include audio, but they couldn't take any chances. After what had been going on the last few days, they had every reason to be paranoid.

Stark's private room was the only room in the hospital to be cleared of listening devices and hidden cameras, but it was hardly private. It was actually made for two patients, but a third bed had been squeezed in and was hidden by a separating curtain in the back corner. Stark's bed was in the middle and Captain Rogers was to his left.

Both men were bandaged-up and wearing hospital gowns. No one who saw them would suspect that they were capable of more than combing their own hair let alone fighting warlords and robotic Iron Men. The two started to wake up upon hearing Romanoff and Pepper enter.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen," Pepper greeted them cheerfully as she took her seat on the chair in between the two men and set down her coffee and bag on the nearby nightstand.

Romanoff admired how Pepper could put on a happy face through the fear and anxiety she must have been feeling. It was probably due to years of practice playing the part of Stark's dutiful assistant in public; yet Romanoff knew first-hand that Pepper could berate and harass the billionaire when provoked—which was often. Romanoff was trained to evoke different kinds of personalities when it was necessary for a mission, but in situations where it wasn't absolutely necessary—like now—she preferred to be herself.

"So I hear they're weaning you off the hard-core pain killers," she addressed Stark as Pepper helped him sit up. "Maybe you'll start to make sense now instead of that incoherent babbling you've been doing the last few days."

No doubt Stark had a witty comeback, but his mouth was completely dry he couldn't make a sound. Pepper held his cup of water near him so his lips could reach the straw, but Romanoff turned her attention to Rogers before Stark could speak.

"Captain, I'm glad to see you're finally awake. I came as soon as I heard."

"Yeah," Stark finally spoke, "He wouldn't shut up about how he thinks I screwed everything up. And I thought I asked for a private room. Nothing about this seems private. How did I end up in the middle of Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dumbass over here?" His thumb indicated that Rogers was meant to be the latter.

Rogers tried to make a comeback, but his throat was also rather dry, so Pepper left Stark to hold his own drink while she poured the captain a cup of water and handed it to him. "Pleased to meet you, Captain. I'm Pepper."

Rogers graciously accepted the drink and nodded his head formally. After he took a long sip of water, he said, "Steve Rogers, ma'am. Thank you."

Pepper smiled, and sat back in her chair trying to address both men. "I thought it would be more convenient for Phil and Natasha to visit one room instead of three, which is why I arranged to have the three of you here. That, and the hospital needed the rooms. A lot of people still need medical attention."

It had been three days since the attack on New York City. Three days and the city was still working on clearing the mess the Chitauri left behind. Romanoff had walked the streets and found posters of missing loved ones on any walls and buildings still intact. Loki had taken so much from the city in one afternoon, but three days later, his influence was being felt throughout the world.

There was a knock on the door before it opened revealing two figures. One Romanoff knew as Agent Coulson, the other she had only seen pictures of. "What is she doing here, Coulson?" She practically yelled at her colleague.

The young woman appeared a bit nervous to have four strangers looking at her, one of which obviously didn't approve of her presence. She didn't care. She only cared about one thing. The young woman looked over at Coulson and asked, "Where is he?"

Coulson pointed to the separating curtain at the back of the room, and the woman rushed over to it and pulled it aside. Lying on the bed in a hospital gown and attached to machine sensors was the massive, vulnerable, unconscious figure of the man she had waited for over a year to see. She leaned down and stroked his blonde hair and ran her fingers over his light beard. She turned to Coulson and asked, "How did this happen?"

"Loki," replied Coulson as he approached the bed. "He…" Coulson lowered his eyes briefly before he continued, "His condition is improving...we think. The wound would have killed any other man, but it's healing. It's just taking a while."

"And he's been…asleep…this whole time? That can't be good, can it?"

Pepper stepped in and tried to console the young woman. "It's a very unusual case. We don't know what's normal for him, but he's getting better." She tried to give a reassuring smile. "I'm Pepper. Is there anything I can get you? Coffee? Something to eat?"

The young woman just shook her head. "No," she said. "I'm, um, I'm Jane. Foster." She looked down at the blonde man and took his hand in hers.

Unable to hold his tongue any longer, Stark said, "Isn't she supposed to be in protective custody or something? I thought we were worried about Loki using her against Thor or using her astrophysics skills for evil…?"

Romanoff crossed her arms in disapproval. "He's right, Ms. Foster. You shouldn't be here."

"According to whom?" Jane raised her voice. "I wasn't told there was a threat, I was just taken away. I had to learn from a friend that he was back on Earth. And after grilling Phil about all the lies I was told, he finally told me Thor was hurt. I may look small, but I don't need to be protected from the truth like some weak little girl who's afraid of monsters under her bed! Besides," she looked down at Thor's face and her voice softened. "He doesn't do well in hospitals. He should see a familiar face when he wakes up."

"That's all really beautiful," Stark couldn't help but interject, "But didn't you guys know each other for, like, a day?"

"Tony!" Pepper scolded as she smacked him on his leg.

"It's true," Jane admitted, her eyes still on Thor, "We don't know each other very well, but we promised to change that the next time we saw each other. And when he wakes up, we can start."

Romanoff rolled her eyes and glared at Coulson's direction. He just shrugged and smiled at her. He was such a sucker for love and all that bullshit. He was a romantic; she was a realist. How had he ever made it as an agent of SHIELD?

"What happens now?" asked Rogers. "I heard what's been happening. Loki's well on his way to getting what he wants."

"We're trying to locate him," responded Romanoff. "But the Helicarrier has suffered major damage, and we can't get access to any of our systems or files since Loki has the CIA, FBI, and the Pentagon under his thumb."

"That's a pretty big thumb…" Rogers said under his breath.

"We've got techs trying to take a look at the systems in Stark Tower…"

"No!" cried Stark. He suddenly looked angry and a little anxious. "I don't want anyone messing with my shit. I don't know what Loki's guys did to my system, so unless I personally clear it's safety, I don't want anyone getting in there. Same goes for the arc reactor."

"These guys know what they're doing, Stark." Romanoff started to explain.

"No! _I_ have to be the one to go in there. _I_ have to make sure Jarvis hasn't been compromised. It's _my_ system, _I_ have to be the one to make sure it's working…" Stark's face was turning red from his heavy breathing and obvious stress. Pepper tried to calm him down.

"Don't worry, Tony," she said. "You told me all this in your drug-induced haze. SHIELD is just checking out the rooms. Investigating, taking prints, and trying to figure out what happened up there. They know not to mess with the system or the arc reactor, and Jarvis won't let them if they try."

He looked intensely at Pepper. "I _built_ it. It came from _my_ planning, _my_ work, _my_ brain, _my_ hands, _my_ sweat, and he just walked in and took over…"

"I know," Pepper cupped his cheek with her hand as she whispered, "I know. It's _your_ baby. You'll be the one to make sure it's safe."

Romanoff looked at the fragile man in his hospital gown and bandages. It was a sad sight to see. Stark was always so annoyingly confident and sure of himself. Now he looked…nervous and suspicious. It was understandable. Loki had invaded his home and infiltrated his system. Stark must have felt violated and helpless. According to Pepper, Jarvis still appeared to be trustworthy. Jarvis was able to give them vital information about what Loki's techs were doing and how Romanoff and Stark ended up in the hospital, but she could share in Stark's hesitation to completely trust the sophisticated AI system.

"Well, you're stuck here for another couple of days," said Coulson. "You won't be able to do anything until then."

Stark's expression lightened significantly rather quickly. "That's where you're wrong, Phil." He turned to Pepper, excitedly. "I believe I saw you sporting a laptop bag earlier…"

Pepper reached into the bag and pulled out the one-of-a-kind laptop built by Stark himself. "Tony, you just got your brain back…" but she knew it was useless to argue.

Stark took the laptop from Pepper, opened it up and started clicking the keys. "It's just preliminary work, and I can do this in my sleep. Seriously, I wouldn't say no to a few more shots of morphine."

Pepper lifted an eyebrow and gave him a stern look. Stark just smiled into those serious, blue eyes. He took in her face, her body, her mere presence before him. He seemed…grateful she was there. Then his eyebrows furrowed, and the anxious look was back on his face, as he seemed to remember something.

"Are you okay?" he asked Pepper. "Loki said he was going to…Did he try to…?"

"No, he didn't," she assured him and squeezed his hand. "You told me what he said. You _insisted_ I have protection, and I do. Happy is downstairs with the car waiting for me."

"_Happy's_ here?"

"He flew in from Malibu as soon as he heard about what happened."

"He's the only protection you have?" Stark trusted his bodyguard and driver with his life, but having the former boxer as the only means of protection for Pepper was unacceptable. "Have Romanoff help Happy out."

"Whoa!" interjected Romanoff, "I don't work for you. I can have a couple of SHIELD agents keep an eye on her, but we need every man who isn't seriously maimed or injured looking for Loki and the tesseract before he successfully takes over the world."

"Tony," spoke up Pepper, "Happy is perfectly capable…"

"Yeah, under normal circumstances," Stark interrupted. "Where is he? Get him up here. Never mind I'll video chat him." Within seconds, Harold "Happy" Hogan's face appeared on Stark's laptop screen.

"Good to see your face, boss," the husky man's voice said through the speakers.

"Same here, buddy. Listen. I need you to arrange around-the-clock security detail for Pepper. Guys you know and trust. I know you've always had my back, but this is Pepper we're talking about."

"Say no more, boss. I'm on it."

"Thanks, man." The video chat ended, and Stark turned to Pepper. "That was easy."

"I told you I was going to have agents looking out for her," said Romanoff, a little put-off from being ignored.

"Yeah, and I trust SHIELD as far as I can throw…" he pointed over to Thor, "him. _Sans_ Iron Man suit."

"You know," spoke up Rogers, "Maybe you shouldn't alienate one of your only allies against Loki."

"I don't have to trust them to work with them, Cap," said Stark as he continued typing away on his laptop.

"It would sure make things easier, though, wouldn't it?"

"You told me you lead a group of SHIELD agents on the ground, and look what happened to you. You got pelted by arrows. You, a supposed 'super-soldier,' got taken down by arrows. One of which was to the knee, which I find funny as hell."

"How is that funny, Stark? They had huge amounts of powerful tranquilizers in them."

"Yeah, but an arrow to the knee!" Stark looked around the room for someone else to share in the hilarity. Romanoff, Coulson, and Jane just looked at him confused while Pepper just rolled her eyes. "Come on! _Skyrim!_ In his case, it would be, 'I used to be Captain America until I took an arrow to the knee.'" He caught Coulson's lip twitch into a small smile, and he pointed at him victoriously. "This guy knows what I'm talking about!"

Romanoff realized he was making some sort of video game reference, and she buried her face in the palm of her hand. _He_ was one of Earth's mightiest heroes? They were doomed.

**Author's Note: Sorry about the random Skyrim "arrow to the knee" reference. My friend told me about it and told me to put it in the story. Just Google "arrow to the knee," and you should get the basic concept (which is all I know). I needed a silly chapter before I got back into serious-mode. **

**By the way, who else is excited about the Thor 2: The Dark World trailer?!**


	15. Chapter 15: The Compound

**Chapter 15: The Compound**

Carolina skimmed through the titles of the books lining the shelves of the sitting room of what she was told was _her_ bedroom. They were much more interesting than the books on Tony Stark's bookshelves in Stark Tower: they had mostly been reference books on electrical engineering and chemistry, which had been completely worn out due to continued use, while others were books on leadership skills, management, and running corporations. Those hadn't looked like they had been touched at all.

Though the books she was looking at were more compelling, most of them were in German. She didn't have the skill or willingness to try to read any of those books. Instead she read through every single English-language book on the shelf. Unfortunately, there weren't many, and she desperately wanted more.

It had been a week since she had been brought to the massive property located north of New York City. Maybe it qualified as a mansion, but the property itself was more of a compound. There were watch towers with armed guards, and most of the back area had been reconstructed as training grounds for the agents. She had deduced there were multiple lower levels to the mansion, more than just the two that were visible from outside, and the only corner of the outside grounds that appealed to her were the gardens she could see from outside her bedroom balcony.

She had reason to believe the property they were occupying belonged to Frau Huber or her family. Though the mansion was at least twice as big as the residence in Germany, the structure and interior design were very similar, and her bedroom had the exact layout as the one she stayed in previously. There were no family portraits to confirm her suspicion, but the German books in her sitting room, and the German-inspired dishes she ate every day only strengthened her belief. She wondered if the older woman was staying somewhere in the New York home.

Since the arrival to the compound, Carolina had been shut in her room all day and all night for a week. The only time she was allowed to leave her room was for her meals. She was growing incredibly bored and somewhat anxious. Prior to her captivity, her routine consisted of taking early-morning runs, making her own meals, getting immersed in her hectic and rewarding job, then going home and reading or watching television. Maybe she would have dinner with a co-worker or two or roam the city on her days off. Now she was trapped…caged in.

She was escorted to her thrice daily meals by her guards, British Agents Smith and Jones. Agent Jones, a dark-skinned woman of average height, was usually the one who addressed her, but Agent Smith, a tall, light-skinned man, never neglected to make his presence known.

Loki never joined her for any meals, but she saw him nearly every night when he came to her bedroom. He didn't say much, but she had an idea of how his plans were going based on his…actions. When he was in his celebratory moods, he was passionate and surprisingly attentive, but when he was angry or frustrated he was rough and he wasn't afraid to inflict pain. As much as she didn't like his roughness, she preferred it to his gentle touch. It served to remind her what he was and what he had done, but she damned herself for losing complete control when he made her reach her dizzying release.

Carolina thought back to the day she made a fool of herself in Stark Tower. She practically begged him—no, she _did_ beg him not to go through with his plans. She tried to reach a part of him that didn't exist: his humanity, his soul, his conscious—any part of him that would have made him realize that he was wrong.

It hadn't done any good. It made no difference. It was stupid. She should have stuck to what she had done for years: look out for herself. She tried not to think about what might have been going on outside her safe little room: the world falling apart, possibly a world war breaking out, and more people dying.

There was nothing she could do about it. The rest of the world were on their own. She should just be grateful _she_ was alive, and the only thing she could do was try to keep it that way. But damn it all if she wasn't going crazy with boredom in her room.

Xxx

One night after Loki had his way with her, Carolina decided to swallow her pride and ask for permission to leave her room during the day. Loki was in a good mood, more so now that he spent the evening with her, that he might be generous.

He was walking toward the door adjoining their rooms when he turned around and gave her a confused look. Carolina tried not to stare at his naked, sweaty, glistening body. She covered up her own nudity as she sat under the sheets on her bed and tried to defend her request.

"It's just that I get really bored in here. I'm not asking to leave the house. Just, maybe, walk around or go to the library. They have a library here, don't they?"

"Why do you believe you aren't permitted to leave your room?"

Carolina opened her mouth to answer but closed it right away. Now _she_ was confused. He had ordered her to stay in her room, didn't he? Then she remembered that was when they were in Stark Tower. What made her think that order applied to this new place?

The reason made its way to the forefront of her mind. Her ex-boyfriend. David had always questioned her about her whereabouts when she wasn't home when he expected her to be. He would badger and interrogate her if she wasn't home a half-hour after her work shifts. When she ran errands around town he would demand to see her receipts to check the time-stamps on them to verify she had been where she said she'd been.

David was paranoid and possessive. It perplexed her that he never hesitated to mention that no other man would want her if she left him, yet he would be jealous and insecure enough to accuse her of cheating on him.

"Past experiences," she mumbled to herself, unaware she was answering his question. "I mean, it was a misunderstanding. That's all."

"Is that why you haven't left your room since we arrived? Because you think I forbade it?" Loki released a snicker, "Your guards were growing concerned. Thinking you might be melancholy."

She didn't know why, but his response irritated her. "I'm shocked they were considerate enough to worry about me and not at all shocked that you weren't."

"And why should I be?" he asked genuinely baffled.

Carolina was ready for the conversation to be over. "No reason whatsoever. Now that this has been cleared up, I'll go to the library tomorrow. Good night." She turned on her side with her back to him. She heard the adjoining door open and close and she tried to fall asleep.

Xxx

The next day after breakfast, Carolina asked her guards to take her to the library. They took her to a massive room on the first floor with books lining the walls and additional book shelves surrounding the perimeter of the space. There were rolling ladders connected to every wall for easier access to the books on the higher shelves. There was a fireplace off to one side with two couches facing it, a couple of tables with chairs in the center for reading and studying, and a couple of computers by the entrance.

Carolina could only stare agape at the beautiful, heavenly room before her. She had wished she had known about the library earlier. She would have been more than happy to sleep in this room than her own…if it would have been allowed.

"For centuries, the previous owners collected books in various languages from all over the world," Agent Jones told her. "There are even rare first editions among them. The computers are equipped with a database of every book in the library. However, there is no internet access I'm afraid. Agent Smith and I will be just outside. If you require any assistance, especially in reaching any books, please inform us at once."

Agent Jones joined Agent Smith outside and closed the doors behind her.

Carolina was overwhelmed by the grand selection; she didn't know where to start. She was grateful the shelves were divided and labeled into sections just like any other library: action/adventure, science-fiction/fantasy, romance, classics…there were even self-help books and do-it-yourself books.

Carolina just wandered about admiring the collection and how dedicated the owners must have been to keep adding to it. She stopped in front of the German section of the library and noticed it was as big as the English section. Another reason to believe the house belonged to Frau Huber's family. She took a couple of children's books to one of the couches and began reading them to try to retain the little German she knew.

She spent hours in the library, and Agent Jones checked up on her every half-hour or so. Finally, Carolina decided to head back to her room upstairs taking a couple of books with her. She followed her guards down the long corridor that would take them to the main hall where the staircase was located, but she stopped short in front of a room.

The door to the room was not fully closed, and she could hear a voice speaking inside. The voice sounded like Agent Barton's. Without thinking, she slowly pushed against the door to try to listen to what he was talking about, but as soon as she did, the talking stopped.

Agent Jones' voice next to her startled her. "It's best we keep moving, Miss Leon," she said. "There's a private meeting taking place inside."

Carolina looked at Agents Smith and Jones who looked rather insistent they move on, so she nodded in agreement. They were about to continue walking when the door to the room opened completely and they were greeted by Agent Barton's inexpressive visage.

"It's Miss Leon, sir," Barton said as he stepped aside and held the door open so Loki could see.

Agents Smith and Jones immediately bowed behind Carolina and reverently said, "Your Majesty."

Hearing her guards address Loki in that manner would normally upset her, but she was focused on Loki sitting on a couch in the middle of the room and the dozens of highly-skilled and deadly agents standing around him facing the front of the room.

Loki lifted an eyebrow when he saw Carolina, obviously not expecting to see her.

"Forgive us, Your Majesty," said Agent Smith. "We were escorting Miss Leon to her chambers. We did not mean to interrupt."

Carolina stayed silent, waiting for Loki to let them leave. She unconsciously hugged her books tightly to her, hoping he wasn't angry with her. She wasn't trying to be nosy, she was just curious, though supposedly one could argue they were the same thing.

Loki's smiled mischievously and addressed her guards, "Take her things to her room. I will escort my lady myself, after we are finished here." Then he looked straight at her, and stood up. "Come, Carolina." He beckoned her to come sit next to him.

She felt every agent's eyes on her. Every person in the room knew different and creative ways to kill her, and she was supposed to be in the same room as them?

"Your books, Miss Leon," Agent Jones held out her hand in front of Carolina, waiting to be given the books.

Carolina realized her body was shaking and she had a death grip on her books. She looked up at Agent Jones' patient expression, and loosened her grip. While Jones took the books from her, Carolina gave her a pleading expression that begged her not to leave her alone with the dozens of murderers in the room. Jones didn't appear to receive the message as she joined Smith in the corridor.

"Take a break, guys," Barton told her guards. "Be back in time to escort her to lunch."

"Yes, sir," Smith and Jones acknowledged the order, bowed once again to their king, and left.

Barton held out his arm indicating Carolina should follow the path towards Loki. She crossed her arms tightly in front of herself and slowly shuffled the seemingly endless distance toward her captor.

Loki held out his hand for hers, and she reluctantly gave it to him. He assisted her to her seat next to the arm of the sofa, and he took his place next to her, trapping her there. He placed an arm around her waist and let his hand stay on her hip, bringing her closer to him. She sat up straight and rigid and completely uncomfortable, unprepared for what might happen.

"Continue, Agent Barton," Loki said.

"Yes, sir," said Barton. He glanced briefly at Carolina, apparently not completely sure she should be there. "As I was saying: all of the Level One target countries have been neutralized and awaiting further instructions. By the end of the day, the leaders of the Level Two countries will be addressing their citizens as the American President did last week: assuring them that you're not a threat, etcetera.

"On a different note, Doctor Selvig has informed me that the next device will be completed earlier than expected. In a few weeks' time, it should be ready for use and most of the people of Earth will by loyal to you."

Carolina grabbed the material of her dress on her lap anxiously, and her breathing grew heavy. She shook as she felt Loki's hand lift to pull a strand of her hair behind her ear. She could see from the corner of her eye that he was looking at her. He let his hand softly wander down her back as he said, "Excellent."

"Of course there's no guarantee that the device will reach every person on Earth," Barton continued, "but the Chitauri should take care of any resistance during the event."

Loki released a throaty chuckle that unnerved Carolina, "The Chitauri will eagerly wait for an uprising. They haven't had a proper battle since New York. They grow restless."

"Yes, sir. The agents on the ground have noticed that as well. The Chitauri attacked a few demonstrators in Vancouver yesterday. The protesters were peaceful, but the Chitauri didn't seem to be able to tell the difference."

Loki laughed aloud still looking at Carolina and running his fingers through her hair, "They knew."

"Yes, sir," agreed Barton, still emotionless, "They'll get their action soon enough."

"Oh, yes. Now if there is nothing else, Barton, implement the strategies mentioned earlier, and make sure these agents understand their part. You are all dismissed."

Carolina stiffened even more as agents walked passed her and bowed to Loki before leaving. She turned her head away from Loki and noticed a giant world map on a wall. There were different colored push-pins in certain places on the map. She was too far away to read what the colors represented and where exactly the pins were.

When the last agent left, leaving her alone with Loki, she finally spoke. "Why did you have me sit-in on your meeting?" She asked still staring at the map. "I don't want to know anything about your plans."

"Look at me, Carolina."

She was at that place between trying not to cry and trying not to scream again, that she didn't know if she could look at Loki without doing both. But she had to. She took a breath to calm herself then turned to look at him. His face was dead serious as he looked straight into her eyes.

"Now you _are_ aware of some of my plans and information that cannot be shared with anyone who does not serve me. Therefore, the only way you will leave here…leave _me_, is by your death. Do you understand?"

She should have been more afraid than angry, but she wasn't. She wanted to hit him over the head with something. Anything. But she knew better. She was no match for him physically, and she hated it. Instead, she looked him in the eyes and in a low voice said, "You make me sick," and ran out of the room.

She heard his roar echo throughout the corridor, "Carolina!"

She kept running. She ran through the hall, passed the main hall, up the stairs and didn't stop running until she reached her bedroom. There were no guards waiting for her, thankfully. She closed the door behind her and leaned against it trying to catch her breath. She was so furious at feeling so desperate and helpless. Angry tears threatened to spill and she was about to succumb to them when she noticed she wasn't alone in the room.

Loki was standing in her bedroom, waiting, with angry fists at his sides. Before Carolina could ask how he got inside her room, he spoke. "Who the Hel do you think you are?"

Oh god, he was going to start a rant. She didn't feel like taking it weakly this time, but she was afraid that whatever she said would only make things worse.

"You should leave…" she said through gritted teeth, hoping he would finally give her a break and just leave.

He ignored her. "To speak to me in such a way…"

"You really need to go…"

"…then leave my presence without my permission?"

"I can't be held responsible for my actions if you don't get the hell out of here. Right. Now."

That got a reaction, albeit, not the one she expected. He chuckled. He was laughing at her. "Of all the things I am, my dear, afraid of you is not one of them."

"I'm not saying you should be afraid of me. But you're afraid of something. That's obvious. You'll probably need a super-shrink to sort out all your issues."

"How dare you…!"

"_Fuck_ that! How dare _you_!" she screamed. "You make me sit in on a meeting just to reaffirm your power over me, and I have to hear you and Barton joke about how those alien-things are killing innocent people for kicks! You are a soul-less bastard, and you will never _ever_ win."

"You forget your place, young one. You forget to whom you speak."

She just ignored him. "Do you think you can just take me, kill my people, and demolish my world? I may be a self-serving jerk at times, but even I'm not a heartless, sadistic monster."

"What makes you think you can say such things to me? I am your King and Master!" Loki's own rage was beginning to boil. He stomped over to her and grabbed her arm, ensuring her attention. "You are alive because I allow it. You are here to serve me. To anticipate my needs inside and outside the bedroom. Not to give voice to thoughts on matters that do not concern you. If I want to hear you speak I will give you the order. If I have need of your cunt, then you will spread your legs for me. Is that in anyway unclear?"

Carolina was disgusted by his tirade and decided to give her own. "You can make me do all that. Hell, you can make the world pledge their loyalty to you, but the words will be a lie. That won't make you our king. You will _never_ be our king."

Loki gave her arm another painful squeeze before he let go. "You have still not learned your lesson. Your punishment will have to be more severe this time."

"Screw your weak-ass punishment!" she screamed at him. She dreaded what he considered punishments. It just made her want him more. "If you want to hit me then _hit me_! Punch me, kick me, smack me around, I can handle it. I would do the same to you if I could, believe me."

She expected Loki to take her up on her offer, but instead he smiled. "Such violent tendencies, my little lioness. By all means, what would you do to me?"

He was mocking her again. He knew she couldn't do anything to him, and that infuriated her. She felt herself boiling up, knowing that no matter how much strength she could muster it wouldn't do any good. But still the fire inside her didn't subside. She just wanted to knock that damned smirk off his face. She couldn't, so she tried something else. She lunged at him and kissed him.

She heard him gasp before he adjusted and began kissing her back. She grabbed the back of his head to push him down as she stayed on her toes to reach him. She finally let herself taste him, suck on his lips. He was sinfully delicious now that she allowed herself to let go and just take him in. His tongue found hers and she let her tongue mate with his.

Their tongues danced in their mouths and until she finally needed to take a breath. She broke the kiss and looked at his face. He was shocked, but also very pleased. She still hated that cocky look and tried to rip his shirt off. It was more difficult than it looked. Loki chuckled and quickly took his layers of dress off until he was just wearing his pants.

Carolina quickly took in his muscled features before pushing him as hard as she could onto her bed. He laughed as he let his head hit the pillows, and he put his hands behind his head, awaiting her next move. She crawled over him and straddled him and attacked the side of his neck with her mouth. God, why did he have to taste so good, smell so good?

She ran her hands slowly throughout his godly chest and abdomen. His tight muscles only made him more appealing. She hated him for his perfect body. She wanted to hurt him and make him scream like he often did to her. And not screams of delight. She grabbed his hair and pulled it back, hoping it would hurt him, but also to grain better access to his neck. Without another thought she dug her teeth where his neck met his shoulder. She wanted to make him bleed. Even if it wouldn't hurt that much, she wanted to know he had a weakness. That he could feel pain. But nothing happened. He didn't yell, he didn't bleed, he just gave a throaty laugh.

"You will break your lovely teeth before you pierce my skin, my pet."

She growled in frustration. She hated how his debasing term of endearment for her didn't really bother her as much as it should have. She ran down the length of his body and took his pants off as she did. His cock was nearly ready for her. She quickly slipped off her panties, licked her palm up to her fingers, and started stroking his thick length. It didn't take long for his cock to harden in her hand and his breathing to hitch with arousal. Her other hand reached under her skirt, and her fingers dipped inside her to moisten her fingers and her outer lips.

She straddled him once again and guided his cock into her waiting opening. She released a yelp at the swift invasion and heard him groan. She placed her hands on his chest to steady herself, hoping it caused some discomfort for him. She moved her hips up and down riding him, only thinking about trying to please herself. She started slowly, deliciously slow. Up and down, she squeezed her inner walls around him having his cock sensually disturb her intricate feminine folds.

"Mmmm…" she closed her eyes to enjoy the feeling inside of her only to be interrupted by Loki's frustrated grunt.

"Damn you, woman!"

She felt him suddenly flip them around so that she was lying on the bed and he was on top of her. Apparently he had had enough of her controlling the pace, and he started to thrust in and out of her more rapidly.

Although it was pleasurable, she didn't like how he took away what little control she had. She tried to steady her moans as she reached out her arms for his neck. While their bodies shifted repeatedly on the bed, she dug her fingernails onto the sides of his neck and down across his chest. She dug as deep as she could, hoping to cause some kind of pain. There were no scratches anywhere. No marks to even prove her nails had been there. She cried in frustration. "Why can't I hurt you?!"

Loki didn't answer. He only smiled as he continued his thrusts. He lowered his head and began sucking on her neck and nibbling…almost as if mocking her attempt to make him bleed. Her breathing only deepened with the additional sensation, not allowing her to hold on to her anger. Then almost simultaneously, as was his talent, Loki had them reach their orgasms.

When Carolina was coming down from her lightheadedness, she realized she was squeezing his muscular arms. She loosened her grip and moved her hands to his chest and tried to push him away. He didn't budge.

He lifted his head and mockingly asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to get you to leave."

He laughed. "You do not direct my actions, my little lioness. My _leoncita_. Although it was quite enjoyable having you try."

She was surprised he used her last name to make up another pet name for her. That's all she was to him. A pet. A pet with no rights and wasn't allowed to have a mind of her own.

He kissed her forehead and removed himself from her, and got off the bed.

"I hate you," she said almost weakly as he headed for the adjoining door.

He smirked at her half-heartedly. He made his way to her and gently grabbed her neck to get her full attention. "I care not what you think of me," he growled angrily, his mood suddenly dark. "And you would do well not to express such thoughts in the presence of others. I will not be undermined."

"I just want to go home."

He released her neck and tore his gaze from her pleading eyes. "The home you speak of no longer exists. Your dwellings in Germany and California are currently being occupied by others. May as well make this your home. There is no other."

He crossed the room and through their adjoining door.

After a shower and a change of clothes, Agents Smith and Jones escorted her to her afternoon meal downstairs. She wasn't hungry, but she had been reminded more than once that Loki had expressed that she eat during every meal. She ate enough so the housekeeper wouldn't complain, then she was escorted back to her room.

Her bed had been made, and she found the books she had chosen from the library on top of the fireplace mantel. She obviously missed them the last time she was there. She was about to reach for them when she saw movement by the balcony doors. Her body stiffened. She didn't want to see Loki again.

A figure emerged from behind the curtains. A woman. She was dressed like one of Loki's agents with one small difference. Her eyes were not the hypnotic blue she was used to seeing in the others. Her petite frame and red hair gave away who she was. The unconscious woman she saved from Stark Tower. Carolina gasped and held her breath.

"Good afternoon, Carolina Leon," the woman said rather politely. "I'm Agent Natasha Romanoff of SHIELD. Is there somewhere we can talk?"


End file.
